


Borne Of Caution

by Fuggmann



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:07:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 163,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24161833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuggmann/pseuds/Fuggmann
Summary: An irritated Pokemon might tell you to stop what you're doing. An irritated animal will probably just attack you. Pokemon, for all their power, would be open books and a breeze to care for to any competent animal handler on Earth. After a fiery death, a professional zookeeper who never outgrew Pokemon games ends up in the world of Pokemon. The entire world is thrown onto it's side.
Comments: 136
Kudos: 410





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has been up on FFN for a while and I meant to trash this site with it but kinds forgot. Better late than never I gues.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence. 
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> It’s shit you’ve been warned.

* * *

"She really likes you, you know."

Lee groans, setting the bloody bucket in his gloved hand down and wiping at his sweaty forehead. Behind him, the staff door to the lion exhibit closes with a pair of clicks. "I know Makiri is pissed. Don't rub it in."

The first voice laughs, deep and hearty. "Well, can't dem to love you all da time, can you? Lovely Lady Makiri likes her routine, and you broke her big rule of not changin'. Mommy Mara's scent all over ya ain't helping either. Lady Makiri be thinkin' you're cheaten on her."

Lee looks up to the tall speaker.

Before him is a large african man with a shaved head, beaming smile, and eyes sparkling with mirth. He's clad in the same khaki bush trekking outfit that most animal handlers in the Columbus Zoo use as a uniform, Lee included. On his belt is a radio (currently turned off as to not spook the lions) and on his right breast pocket is a nametag reading "Aasir".

Lee runs a glove-clad hand through his sweaty hair with a sigh. "I know. With how David called out so suddenly someone had to check up on the tigers, and I drew the short straw. Mara's in heat again and is real cuddly with anything even vaguely smelling male. She walked up to me without an ounce of aggression."

Aasir nods and hums, scratching his stubble covered chin. "Yah, no wonder Lady Maiki was givin' you da stinkeye den. Smellin' anodda female, one jonesin' for cubs no less, on any of her handlers gunna make her mad."

The shorter man grimaces. He had to carefully maneuver in the enclosure as to not let Makiri, the eldest lioness, be downwind of himself. The other lions gladly approached for their admittedly late lunch with Makiri trailing behind, already knowing none of the foolish younglings would eat her share. By the time Lee realized the wind had shifted, the old lioness had already gone silent and was maneuvering into his blindspot. Lee bid a steady retreat, as running would make her chase, and it gave him enough time to see the fury in her eyes.

If she caught him, Lee would have been dead.

Harsh is the realization that any animal could turn on you. Harsher is realization you still love them even if it might lead to your death.

"Think you can cover the lions alone for a few days so Makiri can cool off?"

Aasir nods with a chuckle. "Dats fine. Deh boys at deh reptile house gunna need some extra hands anyway. Dey be setting up a spider exhibit while new rattlers be shipped in. Lions, old Aasir can do. Now spiders?" He drops his grin and shudders. "Can't do spiders. No. Dem beady eyes and crawly legs and hooked fangs be hauntin' my dreams," he says, rubbing his arms as if to ward off a chill.

"Heh, suit yourself," Lee says with a shrug. "Any idea when that's going down?"

Aasir pulls his phone from his pocket and checks the time. "Threeish? Dey getting the buggers in and set up in da back while de enclosures be converted for dem."

_"Enough time to catch some lunch and a nap in the supply closet. Nice."_ Lee thinks with a grin, turning towards the exit to the visitor area.

"And don't be sleepin' in da admin closet. Miss Jonesy knows."

Lee stops. "I said that aloud, didn't I?"

"It's a bad habit you got." Lee didn't even need to turn to know Aasir was smiling. The man just laughs when Lee keeps walking.

Lee steps out into the visitor area, barely avoiding a kid that runs by with an exhausted mom trailing behind. He looks around and takes in the throngs of people in the Zoo today.

Everyone is crowded by the fence of the lion exhibit, watching with gasps and exclamations broken up by the beeping of cellphone cams as the lions eat. Young, old, man, and woman alike watch raptly, and thankfully no one has the gall to try and throw things into the enclosure this time.

Just yesterday a pizza crust thrown by some brat managed to bean poor cub Sefu in the eye, and both himself and Aasir rushed out to the culprit. Lee isn't terribly intimidating, only being of average height and build, but even an indignant mom quickly caves to a large african man so angry that he accidentally slips back into his native Swahili. The family and bawling child left without needing an escort out.

Respecting the animals isn't that hard, is it?

Either way, today seems to be going just fine, making Lee smile as everyone points and gushes over cubs Sefu and Zuberi fighting over a rib bone.

The man continues on, gliding through the Saturday crowd with practiced ease back toward the main admin office and towards his much needed lunch. One or twice he's stopped by a zoo guest for directions, and he gives them out almost without noticing, knowing where everything is by heart. As he walks, Lee runs a hand across his forehead and speeds up, hoping to get out of the beating late-summer sun soon.

Lee slips into the gift shop near the front of the Zoo and walks along the wall to a door marked "Employees only." With a swipe of his keycard, the door opens with a 'click!' and lets him back into the admin office.

Inside the small lounge area, a few staff, animal keepers, security, and even an on-site cop mill about, talking in small groups or seated at one of the small tables eating lunch. In the corner of the room, an old TV with the news perpetually playing fills background. Lee promptly ignores all of that and makes a beeline for the shared fridge, snatching a tupperware container of pasta from it before finding a table for himself.

Lee pulls his phone out as he brings a forkful of food to his mouth, clicking on his GBA emulator to continue his modded Pokemon Emerald run. Not too much was added. Simply a randomized starter and all first three gens available in the wild.

Beating the first gym leader Roxanne, a Rock type specialist, with a Vulpix as a starter was a gigantic pain though. Will-o-Wisp and Confuse Ray really earned their place in Vulpix's moveset after that. The Vulpix has stellar IVs and even has the hidden ability Drought, so it's too bad her lax nature means a special defense reduction. She would have made a good wall. ' _That's alright though,'_ Lee thinks. ' _I can still build a good team around her.'_ He marks the little fox with a heart in the box system.

With the first gym beaten, Lee took one last look around Rustboro and talked with every NPC before heading to the next route.

A chair across the table squeaks as someone sits down. "Still a big Pokemon fan, eh?"

Lee looks up as he finishes his last bite of lunch, seeing fellow keeper and member of the reptile house, Marcy, sit down with him.

Lee nods, pausing his game to address her. "Now and forever. The only thing I like more than Pokemon is actual animals. Broke my heart as a kid when my dick brother said they were real only for Ma to tell me they aren't."

Marcy snorts and grins. "He wouldn't be a proper brother if he didn't mess with you."

"True, and I busted his favorite GI Joe as revenge," Lee quips, making Marcy laugh. "So what brings you over to my lonely little table?"

The woman collects herself. "Aasir told me over the radio one of your lions thinks you're cheating on her, so you need a break from their for a few days. Want to help set up an arachnid exhibit in the meantime?"

"It's not my fault Mara felt like rubbing up on me..." Lee grumbles. "But yes, I was actually about to call you once I was done here to ask just that. Thanks for saving me the trouble."

"Of course."

Both zookeepers stand, Lee pocketing his phone, then stop as tornado sirens begin to sound out in the distance, their wails echoing across the whole zoo hauntingly. Under the wailing of the sirens is the audible panic of several of the louder, more skittish animals. Everyone else in the lounge likewise looks bewildered. One glance out the window shows that the sky is clear and blue, as a summer day should be. Even the fickle weather of Ohio can't shift that fast.

"The hell is going on?" Another keeper asks no one particular.

"Dunno. Some kind of malfunction?" A gift shop cashier finishing her lunch suggests.

"Someone must have broken something big then." Someone near the back of the room chimes.

More sirens echo in from the not-so-distant city of Columbus, the capital of Ohio and one of the largest cities in the United States. The extra sirens mix with the closer ones, forming an unnerving din. Then from the north even more sirens cry out from the city of Delaware.

The confusion gripping the room slowly turns to worry.

"Alright, it's one thing for our sirens to fuck up, but both Columbus and Delaware going at once?" Lee says, pulling out his phone. "What is going on?"

Then he gets an answer he didn't want.

All at once, every cellphone in the room screams out alarm tones at maximum volume. Several people flinch and a few bite back screams from the unexpected scare. The message flashing on each one is infinitely more damning than any frightening alarm tone.

**PRESIDENTIAL ALERT ISSUED.**

**TAKE SHELTER NOW AND TUNE INTO OFFICIAL NEWS STATIONS FOR MORE DETAIL.**

All eyes fly to the TV in the corner.

"-rising tension may mean disaster for negotiations. Back to you, Tom.", ``the anchorwoman says as the news shifts to a smiling man with a weather map behind him Before he can get a single word in, the screen suddenly goes black.

Everyone watching waits, coiled with tension.

After several seconds, the TV screams out with the chilling screech of the E.B.S. After several screeches, a synthesized voice begins to speak with an eerie calm. " **This message is transmitted by the order of the president and Department of Homeland Security. At approximately 12:37PM EST, several intercontinental ballistic missiles were detected entering United States airspace. How the missiles went undetected until entering United States airspace is undergoing investigation. These missiles are believed to be carrying nuclear warheads of unknown yield. Based on trajectory, known targeted cities include Washington DC, New York NY, Dallas TX, San Francisco CA, Seattle WA, Pittsburgh PA, Chicago IL-"**

The TV rattles off more cities in it's monotone. The longer it goes on, the more hope begins rising in the room.

_"Jesus fuck this is unreal, but if there is anything good about Ohio it's how irrelevant we are. Why waste a nuke here?"_ Lee thinks to himself, trying vainly to steady his heart rate. _"There is nothing worth nuking. Oh my fucking god I can't believe the crazies on /pol/ were right."_

**"-Phoenix AZ, and Columbus OH."**

"...What!?"

A deathly stillness grips the entire room. Just outside, screams overtake the sirens.

**"If you are located within 100 to 200 miles of any of the listed locations,"** the TV drones on, **"take shelter immediately. Warhead impact is estimated to be in the next 30 to 45 minutes for the east coast, and 45 to 55 minutes for the west coast. Keep a radio and tune into local emergency channels. If you do not know your local emergency channels, look them up now. Internet service cannot be guaranteed after impact. Shelter in place and do not move until an all clear is given. A location underground is optimal. Failure to follow these instructions may lead to injury or death. This message will repeat."**

Lee looks around at his thunderstruck co-workers, but can't hear a word of their frantic yelling over his heart pounding in his own ears and the growing screaming outside. He falls backward, his back hitting the wall and letting him slump to the floor. "Absolutely nowhere in the zoo can stand a nuclear blast," he whispers to himself. "We're going to die. We're actually going to die."

The man frantically takes out his phone and hits the first contact inside, his mother. He holds the phone up to his ear, but only hears "All circuits are busy. Please try again later" before it can ring out even once. With a growl he calls again, again, and again...

"All circuits are busy. Please try again later."

"Fuck! Did EVERYONE have the same idea?!"

Lee raises his arm and almost dashes the smartphone across the ground, but controls his temper at the last moment with a deep, heaving breath. He drops the now useless device into his pocket and grips his head in his hands, tears of both fear and frustration stinging his eyes. "Fuck fuck fuck..."

He raises his head, seeing everyone else isn't coping much better. Most fill the room with screams and muttered prayers asking God to save them. One poor intern has the cashier girl in a deathgrip of a hug, crying large, ugly tears as the shell shocked girl rubs his back absently. Several of the keepers slip out the door, probably to go see their animals one last time. Marcy, normally so conservative, is openly and frantically having sex one last time with one of the security guards in the corner with not a single person paying them any mind.

**BANG!**

Everyone jumps and screams.

Lee stares at the slumped form of the on-site police officer. He's wide-eyed and bleeding from a hole in the side of his cranium, his Glock pistol held in limp fingers. The wall to his side is painted a morbid red. The man's mouth opens and closes several times before his eyes unfocus and he goes limp.

Lee quashes the temptation to take the gun and follow the man into the afterlife.

Someone else, an older man in overalls with a tool belt picks up the gun and drops the magazine, looking at with the shaky hands. "There's sixteen more bullets if anyone wants to go on their own terms..." he says quietly, placing the gun on a table after putting the magazine back in.

Impending death does things to people. Really reveals who they are.

The crying intern wipes away his tears and steps towards the gun, a sudden calmness to him.

Lee screws his eyes shut and plugs his ears.

**BANG!**

Red splatters across the ceiling, and another one moves on.

The crying and panic calms in favor of numb shock, everyone now too overloaded to process everything at once. All the remaining people in the lounge slowly settle into a small group along the floor and the chatter dies down to silence. Everyone is content to wait, and no words are needed to communicate that. Outside, only the wails of the sirens remain. The cries of the guests are gone, and in their place is distant beeping of car horns.

Lee looks down at his phone, now noticing it has no signal at all. With a sigh, he opens Pokemon Emerald again in a vain attempt to distract himself.

"The front gate is probably clogged to all hell..." Lee murmurs, hugging his knees to his chest with his free arm. "Glad I'm not on parking lot duty today."

A few people chuckle and the maintenance man who set the gun aside even says; "Hear hear, brother."

Quiet falls over the group again and goes unbroken for a few only sound comes from Lee's phone as he takes his character back to Littleroot Town.

"So how long until..." Someone trails off.

"That was a good 20 minutes of freakout," someone else says. "It's can't be long now, people. If you've got any regrets, out with it now."

No one speaks up and the second speaker scoffs. "Of course..."

Lee sighs and leans his head back, praying to whatever power that is listening to make sure the coming doom is quick, both for him and all the animals. The thought of Makiri, the cubs, Mara and her mate Jupiter, or ANY of the animals he'd come to love like people suffering fills him with a nameless dread. Why should they be killed for the mistakes of people?

"They shouldn't. They're the biggest victims here, being condemned to die because forces they can't comprehend or control don't even consider them in the collateral damage."

"My one regret," Lee begins, making all eyes turn to him. "Was that I could never properly tell all my charges how much I love them. I went to school and came here to learn all about animals of all sorts, and I can gauge how much they like me thanks to those lessons, but I never had a good way to tell them. The curse of language barrier that can't be breached I guess."

"Jesus Lee, make the rest of us feel bad why don't you."

Lee turns to the speaker to retort, but stops and screams when a 2nd sun blooms in the distance. The flood of white light through the south window instantly burns the left side of his face and makes the room sweltering in half a second.

The screaming begins again as everyone scrambles to cover their eyes. Hardly a second later, the shockwave hits. All the windows shatter into slivers of razor sharp glass and shoot northward. Several lodge themselves into Lee's side or fly by and open gashes, making him cry out at the sharp agony. His own scream and the rest of the world goes silent as his ears pop from the pressure. The whole room shakes and cracks like an earthquake struck the entire zoo.

And then, **FIRE**

**OH GOD THE FIRE THE FIRE THE FIRE THE FIRE**

**EVERYTHING HURTS**

**EVERYTHING BURNS**

**MAKE IT STOP**

**MOMMY GOD JESUS ANYONE PLEASE MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT GO AWAY**

**MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP**

An instant later, and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was no more.

* * *

Lee opens his eyes.

A second later, he shoots up into a sitting position and coughs wet, painful coughs into his hand for almost a minute, taking wheezing breaths whenever his abused lungs would allow. He looks at his hand, grimacing at the flecks of red dotting his hand and at the copper taste coating his tongue.

The man cranes his head around, confusion welling up inside him as he stands on unsteady legs. This is neither heaven, hell, or a hospital.

All around is lush greenery that one would see in a fairly tropical region. A humid wind filled with the scent of recent rain blows through the leaves of the tall trees, sending a calm rustle rolling through the forest all around.

"What the fuck..?" Lee murmurs, turning only to hiss as the movement pulls at the glass stuck into his side. He gingerly touches a large shard that shredded through his khaki shirt and stuck itself in his left side with a wince. While looking at his side, he notices the dark lines burned into the side of his shirt, probably from where the bright light shined in through the blinds. So he probably...

Lee touches a finger to the left side of his face and pulls it away, biting back a scream. A trio of lines are burned into his face, one just barely missing his eye. The flesh is cooked and bubbled in some places.

"Don't touch my face, good to know..." he says to himself, returning his attention to the glass in his side. He grits his teeth "This is gonna suck," he says, gripping the largest bit of glass. With a wet _schlick!_ the shard slips out and Lee bites his lip to hold back a scream. He quickly yanks what shards he can out and lets the bloody glass fall to the grassy ground. Thankfully none are in so deep that he risks bleeding out.

With that out of the way, Lee reaches in his back pocket and takes out a small folding knife. With a few quick cuts, his still whole right sleeve is made into several sloppy bandages. "Thank God for small mercies," the man mutters, thankful his shirt is a button up and not a pull-over that he'd have to drag over his burns.

A moment later, his cuts are covered and his tattered shirt is buttoned back on.

"Now, where the fuck am I?"

Lee turns around carefully, trying to make heads or tails of his location. Could he have been picked up by the blast and flung here? She shakes his head. "What kind of cartoony shit is that? And I distinctly remember being on fire."

Just the phantom sensation of being engulfed in flame paralyses the zookeeper and makes his heart hammer. Sweat dots his brow and he struggles to breath, his mind convinced that opening his mouth will let the nuclear flames in.

"Ta. Taillow!" A voice with a trill to it calls.

"Zag?" Another voice asks with questioning whine.

The strange, almost child-like voices snap Lee from his vision. With a gasp and a blink, he whirls around and comes face to face with something, or a pair of somethings he instantly recognizes.

Less than ten feet away stands a living, breathing, Zigzagoon and a Taillow, both watching him carefully. _A pair of fucking Pokemon._

Lee gulps and stares back. _"I've lost it. This is my brain flooding with hormones for a nice vision before I'm burned to ash. There is no other explanation."_

The Zigzagoon is just as he remembers them. Short and stubby with a cute face and the distinct zig-zag pattern to it's fur, but there is a realness that any game or show lacks. Zigzagoon has individual strands of fur that gently flow in the breeze and it's eyes gleam. It blinks and twitches it's nose in little sniffs.

The Taillow is just as real, with actual feathers composing it's from rather than just solid color. On it's beak, Lee sees several scratches and minor discoloration telling him it's not been eating a balanced diet. It's talons kneed the dirt under it anxiously.

_"This can't be real."_

Zigzagoon tilts it's head and Taillow narrows it's eyes.

"Shit I said that aloud."

Lee quickly falls back on his animal handling lessons and slowly dips into a crouch to make himself seem smaller and less threatening.

Taillow's form eases and Zigzagoon steps a little closer, it's tail slowly wagging.

Zigzagoon's eyes scan over Lee, and he swears he sees the Pokemon's gaze become sympathetic as it looked over the wounds upon him. The little Pokemon steps even closer, coming almost to arms length. Zigzagoon finally looks over its shoulder to Taillow, letting out a; "Zagoon. Zig zigzagoon!" that sounds imploring.

Taillow looks over Lee with and appraising eye, its eyes lingering on the burns on his cheek, before it spread its wings and took off into the forest, vanishing like a specter into the branches.

The little racoon look-alike seems elated if it's body language offers any tells and fearlessly steps closer, now within arms reach.

Lee slowly, carefully reaches a hand out, pushing down the twinge of childish excitement that suddenly wants to rise out "You're a friendly one, eh? My favorite," he says, gently laying a hand on the Pokemon's head.

Zigzagoon happily preens under the compliment and accepts the gentle scratch behind its ear with a croon. Lee takes the time to marvel at the feeling of the stiff, backwards facing fur.

Suddenly, Taillow returns and lands beside Zigzagoon. Only years of 'Don't make sudden movements' being beaten into Lee's head keep him from flinching.

Taillow carries a pair of small, blue fruits held by the stems in it's beak. The small bird looks at Lee critically before dropping both fruit at his feet and hoping backwards two steps. Zigzagoon likewise backs up several steps and looks up at him patiently.

_"They're giving these to me?"_

A second look at the fruit tell him exactly why.

At his feet is both an Oran berry and a Rawst berry. A berry that restores HP and a berry that cures burns.

One side of Lee knows that Pokemon are intelligent _of course_ , but the other side is _utterly blown away that a pair of animals could diagnose injuries and acquire treatment, for a_ _ **stranger**_ _no less._

The man gives both Pokemon a smile, careful not to bare his teeth. "Thank you both so much."

Taillow just nods, seemingly not thinking this is a big deal, but Zigzagoon trundles up and rubs its face against Lee's knee with an affectionate bark.

With a smile, the man picks up the Rawst berry first. _"Chase the bitter one with the sweet one."_ Then he stops. _"Am I really about to accept a pair of fruits I've never seen before from a pair of anomalous creatures?"_

He pops the Rawst berry into his mouth and chews quickly, trying not to cringe at the impressive bitterness that such a small fruit could pack. Both Pokemon before him watch with no small amount of amusement as he grabs the Oran immediately after swallowing the Rawst, again eating the thing quickly.

Lee almost gags when the sweet Oran doesn't wash down the Rawst flavor, but instead mingles with it into a disgusting new flavor. "Ech. Did you two know this would happen?"

Taillow actually smirks, a facial expression an avian should not be able to make while Zigzagoon replies with a "Goon!"

Once both berries are down, the pain from all of Lee's injuries fades to a dull ache and the throbbing, molten pain of his burned face eases to a much more bearable sting. He tentatively touches his face to find that action isn't pure agony any longer. He takes a deep breath, noting the wet wheeze he had was gone.

Incredible. Just incredible. His inner academic yearns to know the hows and whys of berries.

Again, Lee finds himself smiling. "Thank you both again. I won't forget you."

Both Pokemon actually smile. Taillow spreads its wings and Zigzagoon turns to leave.

"Wait!"

The Pokemon halt and look at Lee, Zigzagoon with curiosity and Taillow with suspicion.

"Can you..." he stops, almost feeling foolish. "Can you tell me where the nearest human settlement is? I'm.. not really from around here."

Taillow rolls its eyes. "Tailllllow," it says, sounding condescending. Nonetheless, the small bird flits up to a branch and points it's beak to the east. It then takes flight and vanishes into the forest.

Zigzagoon is quick to follow, but not before throwing a quick "Goon!" over its shoulder.

Once again, Lee is alone.

The zookeeper pushes away the mental breakdown that desperately wants out and starts walking east at a slow pace. No matter what happened, he needs to find other people to help him and hope he doesn't stumble into a nuclear crater. As he walks, Lee takes stock of himself.

"I'm hurt, tired, lost, have zero supplies, and I'm probably hallucinating. This is just awwwwesome. At least those berries worked."

Lee pats down his pockets, finding everything where it should be. His radio is still on his belt, but it only takes one look to see that it's chassis is cracked down the middle and the innards look live they've been microwaved, he observes with a groan. His folding knife and wallet is in his back pocket. His phone somehow survived, albeit with a cracked screen, but then...

As Lee was putting his phone back, his finger runs over something cool, metal, and spherical at the bottom of his pocket. Curious, he wraps his fingers around it and pulls the tiny sphere out. In his hand is a pokeball, shrunken into it traveling form.

"No fucking way."

He presses the button several times, watching mystified as the ball grows and shrinks over and over before his eyes. "Did Taillow or Zigzagoon sneak this onto me?" he asks no one, tossing the ball up and down, only for it to slip from his fingers and fall to the ground.

The ball bounces once then snaps open with a flash of energy, making Lee jump back with a yelp. The energy collects to a single point and forms a small, quadrupedal figure before fading, leaving a creature behind.

Brown eyes blink and look up at the gobsmacked human. An ear with a little heart mark flicks.

Before him stands a Vulpix. His Vulpix.

"Oh. Shit."

* * *

The first thing Vulpix does once her ball opens is take a deep breath of air.

The scents of the forest, the dirt, the trees, the water, the grass and mingle in her nose, telling her countless things about her surroundings before she can even blink the stars from her vision. She remembers an incredible victory over the Rock-type gym leader, where her own trainer commanded her like a professional. He and her working in tandem led the entire other team to ruin.

A young Fire type demolishing a team of experienced Rock types. Alone. Power never mattered overly much to her, but such explosive growth appealed to a much more primal part of her Pokemon psyche. A part should could not, and would not deny.

Her human was never the affectionate sort, and would keep her in her ball most of the time. With a flare of her budding psychic powers, Vulpix scans for her opponent as her vision clears, but finds naught but her trainer.

Curious.

After a few seconds that seem like an eternity, Vulpix's vision adjusts from the sudden flash of her own materialization, and before her stands... a human who isn't her trainer. He's taller different in the face, clad in unusual, tattered clothes,... and coated in injuries.

But this human's psychic signature feels just like her trainer. Exactly like him. She knows there is no such thing as a perfect psychic spoof. It can't be done. Vulpix wars with herself, fighting the desire to try and comfort her trainer(?) over his injuries and the logical side of her that says to wait and be wary of tricks.

And things... look different. Sharper. Dare she say more detailed? Strange happenings are abound.

Vulpix blinks and looks around, not recognizing anything. With a flick of her ear, she sits and waits, content with having her trainer(?) lead the conversation.

* * *

Lee blanks out.

Before him is the crux of his latest team, looking at him coolly with at least some level of recognition. Actual recognition, as in she knows who he is. Somehow. He takes out his phone and boots up his emulator for Pokemon Emerald. On starting up, he opens his pokemon menu.

And it's empty. His Vulpix, his only Pokemon, is missing.

The game promptly freezes and crashes.

He puts the phone away, thinking over the implications.

Again, he falls back into his training and crouches down slowly, Vulpix's eyes watching carefully. Lee hesitates for a minute with Vulpix just watching, before he finally takes a deep breath and begins "Vulpix? I know this is going to sound really stupid, but what is the last thing you remember?"

Vulpix tilts her head, carefully regarding him with her chocolate eyes. The little vulpine then looks around and spies a small rock sticking up from the ground. She trots to the rock, then breathes a short tongue of flame onto it before giving it a little kick, knocking it over.

This sudden appearance of the flame makes Lee go still, but he snaps himself back to reality a second later. "So our victory over Roxanne?"

Vulpix simply nods.

Again Lee stops to think. "Alrighty girl. Lets walk-n-talk. We want to get to a town before nightfall and I've got a lot of things to cover. I urge you to listen to me until the end."

The little fox responds with a demure "Vul..." and stands to follow.

Lee stands himself and stretches his limbs with a held back yawn. The energy given to him by that Oran is beginning to fade. He starts his leisurely pace east again with Vulpix easily falling in step to his left. As they walk, he mulls over his explanation.

_"How does one explain... well, all this shit to a superpowered animal without getting killed?"_ The zookeeper wonders with a sigh. _"Or, do I even need to explain it?"_ He wonders, thinking back to some of the older Dex entries for Vulpix and Ninetails. _"Ninetails is explicitly said to have mind control powers in one of the gen III Dexs. That means some way to connect minds together. Could Vulpix have a lesser form of that ability?" The man then starts second guessing himself "Do I really want to let her into my head? Sure, I can say I know how psychic powers work from the show, but this isn't the show. At least I don't think. If I don't though, then everything I say is going to sound crazy. 'Hey, I dunno how either of us got here, but I was in a fiery holocaust and I'm sure you were in a video game before that.' Even in a world as wack as Pokemon, that's weird."_

"Vulpix?" Lee asks, looking down at her. "I'll be honest, I don't quite know how to explain what exactly happened. It's... kind of unbelievable. So much so that I almost don't believe it. I know your line has some level of psychic power. Can I possibly show you the memories?"

_"Excluding some parts, of course. I can't scar my only Pokemon."_

Vulpix looks up and regards Lee with some surprise in her eyes. She stops and jumps to Lee's shoulders with a deft hop, taking care to drape herself over his right shoulder and to keep her tails away from his burns. Lee and Vulpix lock eyes less than an inch away, and her large chocolate eyes begin to glow a dark red.

Lee gulps and brings his daily life in the zoo to the forefront, showing Vulpix what he did for a living, then shifted to his phone.

He can **FEEL** Vulpix looking over his mental shoulder into the memory of the phone screen, where a perfect digital copy of herself was. He could feel the countless questions bubbling in her, but she remained silent. He shifted his mind to his trainer avatar, then back to himself, correcting her image of him.

Finally, he shifts the memory to the very tail end of... his death?

The alarm that shoots through Vulpix nearly makes him stumble.

A flash, then pain. Unearthly pain.

Fire.

**Fire.**

**FIRE.**

**SKIN BOILING**

**FLESH MELTING**

**BONES SPLINTERING.**

**TURN.**

**TO.**

**ASH.**

"..ix! Vulpiiiiix!"

Lee snaps out of the short flashback, his chest heaving and the sensation of burning. He looks to his right shoulder, seeing the horrified face of Vulpix.

_"No. She saw everything."_ The man feels himself go cold, like a lump of ice was dumped into his stomach. _**"Why the fuck did I think this was a good idea?! Jesus fuck man try to think things through!"**_

The fox takes shaky breaths and fights back tears in an unnervingly human display as a pitiful whine builds in her throat. She pins her ears back and looks away.

Lee keeps the her pokeball pocketed. If she runs, then he has no right to pursue. He'll break the ball and free her.

For a long moment, man and fox stand there. Then Lee jumps when a cold nose nuzzles into his neck. "V-Vulpix?"

Vulpix meets his eyes with hers, but stays nuzzled to his neck.

"You're," the man stops and thinks over his words. "You're not going to run and leave? I won't stop you."

The fox bares her teeth and growls as pure offense flashes across her whole face. Merely suggesting she leave seems to make her almost enraged. Her body heats up before she suddenly stops and lets it cool down again.

Lee gulps and turns away, holding up a hand in surrender. "L-Look. I was just saying. If you don't want to, then that's fine too. I'm more than happy to have you."

With those words, Vulpix visibly calms and huffs, holding her head high as she steadily meets her trainer's gaze. "Vulpix. Vul, pix." she says firmly. It's easily interpreted as 'I am not leaving. Don't ask again.'

Despite all the day's great misfortunes, Lee feels a little of that childish excitement from earlier return. Here he is, with a Pokemon of his own!

The time to cry and mourn is later. For now wonder can have the front seat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of trauma and wonder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> Remember I am big rart so point out mistakes.
> 
> Ara ara. Still here reader-kun? Endure this trash if you can.

* * *

"Little Root Town?"

"Vul?"

After about thirty minutes of walking, the treeline had thinned until vanishing altogether, showing the ragged man and little fox on his shoulder a quaint hamlet with an ocean port to the south. The muggy forest air faded away in favor of a rolling breeze smelling of salt.

"Must be Little Root," Lee muses aloud. "That Taillow and Zigzagoon were pretty concrete evidence that this is Hoenn, and this place is much too small to be Slateport or Lilycove. We won't have to run all over hell's half-acre to find Birch then. I guess something had to go right for us, eh?"

Vulpix says nothing, but the short purr in her throat tells Lee she acknowledged his words.

"Here's hoping Birch finds us to be enough of a scientific curiosity to be worth helping," Lee says as he walks, "because if not, things could get rough for a while..." he finishes with a grimace.

Vulpix noses Lee's cheek with a demure "Pix," making the man smile and reach up to pet her. Vulpix accepts the affection with a small smile of her own, even leaning into the hand.

Lee grins. Again, a childish giddiness pushes away the day's negativity and all the buzzing questions all thanks to the fact that _he has a real pokemon! He is a Pokemon Trainer!_

' _Or I'm one in spirit at least. I know it's not as simple as having a pokemon = trainer. Paperwork, here I come.'_ Lee thinks. A moment later, another thought hits him. _'Oh shit, I have no legal ID here. I seriously doubt my drivers licence and zoo ID will work. It will certainly add some credibility to my story, but Jesus, having no paperwork for either myself or Vulpix is going to be a bureaucratic nightmare_. _I bet all the money in my wallet is useless too, and I know my credit card is trash now.'_

Yet another problem on the pile fails to bring down Lee's spirits though. _'Because If I don't think positive at this point I'm going to have a fucking stroke.'_

Lee and Vulpix clear the flat, grassy clearing to the east of Little Root and into town proper, where a handful of townsfolk walk here and there around the apparent shopping district they stumbled into. Several Pokemon are out with their humans too. A Machop down the street lifts up one end of a car with little strain as a man changes a flat tire. A Poochyna holds its own leash, looking bored as its teen girl owner slips inside a small shop to gawk at handbags. Down a sidestreet closer to the pier, an Alolan Marowak and a tanned, shirtless man put on a street show for a small crowd of cheering people and pokemon.

It's... Wonderful. Simply wonderful.

"Vul?"

Lee snaps back to awareness when his own pokemon questions him. He tilts his head to meet her big brown eyes. "Ah, sorry about that, love. I guess I got caught up looking around."

Vulpix accepts the apology with a short purr in her throat, then says; "Vulpix vul?" with an inquiring tone. _'What now?'_ he interprets it as.

"First, we find Birch," Lee begins, holding up a finger. "Then, we give him the abridged and edited version of our story," another finger goes up. "Finally, make a case that we're interesting enough to help. If I can nab a job, we can grease the wheels of quite a few of our problems."

"Just from the look of you, you must have some story."

Lee tenses and Vulpix's jumps, almost slipping off her human's shoulders. Lee turns around slowly and blinks at who he sees.

Grinning with his hands held behind his head is a young Brendan Birch, son of the man Lee is looking for.

Brendan's eyes widen when Lee turns. "Oh jeez man. You didn't look that bad from behind," the preteen winces, trying not to touch his own face when he looks at Lee's burns. "Uh, do you need a hospital visit?"

Lee waves the kid's concern away. "Don't worry about it. It can wait until later. My name is Lee, and this is Vulpix. And you?"

The boy smiles. "Brendan Birch. Nice to meet ya!" he says, thrusting a hand out for a handshake. Lee takes his hand and gives it a single firm shake. "I'm gonna guess when you say you were looking for Birch, you mean my dad, right?"

"Depends, is your dad Professor Birch?" Lee asks, playing dumb.

Brendan nods. "MmmHmm! Hoenn's own Premier Pokemon Professor!" he exclaims with obvious pride. "What do you need to meet him for? Some kinda research project?"

"Of a sort," Lee says with a nebulous wave of his hand, sidestepping the topic. "I have a proposal for him, one regarding... the raising of pokemon in a unique training environment. I'm certain the results will produce pokemon that deviate significantly from the norm and might even shift the paradigm of modern pokemon training."

' _I hope he doesn't realize I'm full of shit.'_

Brendan raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms. "Thats awful vague and scammy sounding. And you don't look like the professor type."

Lee shrugs. "If I just blurt out the details, what's stopping anyone from taking my idea and taking credit for it?"

And indeed, a few people have stopped to watch the professor's son and the torn-up stranger talk.

"That makes sense..." Brendan grumbles. "I don't think dad has anything scheduled for today anyway, so I don't see the harm taking you to the lab. You looked kinda lost."

"We blew into town just today," Lee replies, following once Brendan turns and starts to walk. "Vulpix and I appreciate the help, by the way."

"Vul!" Vulpix chimes in.

Brendan grins and looks back. "Hey no prob! So how long have you been a trainer anyway? You must be really traveled if you've got a Vulpix! Can I see the rest of your team?"

Lee and Vulpix share a look. The little vulpine doesn't need to say anything, as her eyes alone tell him _'consider your words.'_

"Not that long, actually, and Vulpix is my only pokemon." _'At the moment.'_ Lee reaches up to pet Vulpix along her neck. "It all actually ties into the proposal I have for the professor. How about yourself? You must have an impressive team with a professor as a dad."

Brendan either doesn't notice the focus shift upon him or ignores it. The boy slumps and groans. "I don't have a pokemon yet. Dad won't bend the rules for me. Once the newest starter batch shows up from the breeders, then I can finally start being a trainer!" He says, perking back up and dramatically pumping a fist.

' _Sunny kid,'_ Lee muses, still gently stroking Vulpix's plush fur and making the little fox slowly relax across his shoulders. "Any idea who you want?"

"Mudkip, no contest. Ever since I saw Wallace's Swampert one-shot the finalist Chesnaught with a single Hydro Pump in the Ace of Aces tourney last year, I've been set on Mudkip and one day Swampert," Brendan gushes with a grin, his eyes alight. "Did you see that tourney?! Chesnaught was _thrown_ off his feet by that Hydro Pump and almost went through the arena wall!"

"I must have missed it."

The boy scoffs as the lab begins to take shape in the distance. "I've got it saved. When you're done with dad I can show you. It was insane!"

The rest of the short walk is spent with much less interesting small-talk.

Birch's lab is a modest place. It's an arched, 2-story building atop a gentle, grassy hill with a rather homey look to it. It would have been easily missed if not for the sign out front declaring "Pokemon Research Center. Head Prof: Birch." Further behind the lab, a fenced-off corral housing a breathtaking number of pokemon expands hundreds of meters back all the way into the forest. In front of the lab is a plain, parked jeep, probably Birch's

Brendan walks up to the front door and throws it open without a care, almost bowling over some poor lab aide in glasses. "Sorry Dave! Hey dad! There's someone here to meet you! He's not in a pimp suit and actually has a Pokemon so he's probably not a scammer!" He calls, running into a sideroom and out of sight.

Lee coughs into his fist to hide the laugh that bubbled out of him and looks around.

The lab looks much like it is in the game. A wide space with several computers, sci-fi level machines, and bookshelves along the wall. One aide is manning one of the PCs while another is near the corner writing on a notepad as a Lotad before him picks at a bowl of food. The one named Dave grumbles at almost being run over and walks up to you. "Ah, sorry about Brendan. He didn't hassle you too much, did he?"

"Him? Nah. Lee, by the way. And this is Vulpix," he introduces, gesturing to both himself and his pokemon.

' _My pokemon. That's not ever going to get old.'_

"A pleasure. My name is Dave if Brendan didn't make it obvious," Dave says with a smile and nod. The smile morphs into a frown as he takes in Lee's form. "Ah, do you need some first aid? You're looking a little... rough?" He trails off, eyes lingering on the burns across Lee's face and shirt.

"I'm no stranger to a bit of pain," Lee waves his concern away. "I have some cuts that could use a wash if you have a restroom I could borrow for a moment, but other than that I'm fine and don't want to impose too much."

The aide frowns a little more. "If you're certain. Still, there is a first aid kit under the sink if you need it. The restroom is the first door on the left," he says, adjusting his glasses before pointing down the hallways Brendan vanished through. "I'll let the professor know where you are if you're not back by the time he arrives."

Lee offers a short thanks and turns to the bathroom

* * *

Lee finishes buttoning up his shirt, careful not to catch it on the gauze now wrapped around his middle. The makeshift bandages made from his sleeve didn't hold up well, and were messily crusted with blood when he pulled them off, so he reluctantly made use of the first aid kit in the sink cupboard. A dab of stinging disinfectant and a little help in the form of Vulpix holding the gauze taut later, and his cuts were treated.

Then he looked at his face for the first time since the blast.

Three near-perfect lines the thickness of his pinky are burned into the left side of his face at an angle. The flesh is a raised, painful, angry red, practically still fresh.

' _Because it is.'_

The topmost burn narrowly missed his eye, carving through his eyebrow instead and down to the base of his nose. The next one was just under his eye, the line going from his temple to his lip. The last one burned away some of his sideburns and went down to his chin. It looks like someone took red-hot claws and raked them down is face.

Lee didn't want to lament on his ruined face all day, so the burns got some ointment to ease their stinging and were promptly ignored.

Finally, he just gave his hair and face a rinse to take the most noticeable bits of grime off. Vulpix watched the entire process from the lidded toilet with her usual placid expression.

"Alrighty, girl," Lee says, glancing in the mirror one last time. "Lets head back."

Vulpix hops down and follows without a word.

"...bably the real deal. I mean he's got the whole hermit look and everything," Brendan tells the frowning, elder Birch as Lee rounds the corner into the lab's main room. Brendan looks over and smiles. "Hey Mr Lee! Tell my dad about the training thing you were proposing!"

Professor Birch, a stout, shaggy man who looks to be in his 30s, turns away from his son to face Lee.

Despite the man's carefree, almost goofy demeanor in the anime, Birch regards Lee with a critical eye. Birch's gaze doesn't linger in any one place for too long, taking in and dissecting all of Lee with intensity, and maybe even a level of hostility.

Lee jumps a little when Vulpix slips between his legs and seats herself between himself and Birch. The little vulpine sports a cool expression, but he can see the coiled muscles in her legs and withers.

The professor eases and even smiles when he notices Vulpix. "Oh, sorry about that, little miss," he says with a sheepish laugh. "I didn't mean to come of as hostile. We just get more than a few uh, _interesting_ proposals from all sorts of people. If you're so willing to jump to your trainer's defense, then he can't be a bad guy."

Vulpix lets the tension in her small body fade and instead looks up at Lee. Again, she jumps to his shoulders and settles herself around his neck like a warm, furry scarf. Lee can't help but smile and pet the fox, earning him a positive purr.

Professor Birch clears his throat. "Ah, sorry about the ugly look, Mr Lee. Like I said, we get some real characters showing up at the lab time from time of any number of reasons, and as the League Professor for Hoenn, I'm obligated to hear everyone out regarding anything pokemon related no matter what it is... Even if it's something as dumb as trying to pass off gold spray-painted Feebas as some new subspecies," he grumbles the last, but composes himself and holds out a hand. "Professor Nigel Birch, at your service."

Lee grasps the offered hand in a firm shake and offers the professor a smile. "Lee Henson, a pleasure to meet you professor. And just Lee is fine."

Birch smiles back. "So, Brendan tells me you have some sort of unique training style to present? I have to admit that I'm curious. You have the look and standing of a seasoned trainer so I can only imagine that you've developed something quite special."

' _Make or break time. Birch is a goodhearted man, but don't fuck this up.'_

Lee slowly nods. "Unique is a good word for it. I don't mean to be rude, professor, but can we discuss the details in private?" He asks, giving the curious Brendan a sidelong look. "Some of the details are... sensitive I guess. It's nothing against you, Brendan."

The boy hums and folds his arms behind his head. "Don't worry, I getcha. You don't want your secret techniques getting out. It's a smart move, because if I got my hands on them, then it'll be too easy for me to overtake old guys like you," he says with a grin. "I want _some_ challenge."

"I'm twenty-four you brat."

Brendan turns on his heel and walks off, arms still folded behind his head. "Okay whatever old man. That's a whole twelve years between you and me. Don't bust a hip."

"Yeah yeah, get outta here."

"I will, cuz my hip isn't busted."

"You woulda had a busted ass in my day for that lip."

Brendan snorts and laughs, grabbing a backpack by the front door and taking off back out into Little Root.

Lee turns back to Birch, who has his face held in his hands. "Sorry about him," Birch mutters, dragging his hands down his face. "He's got the same rude mouth I did at his age."

The younger man waves away the older's concern. "He's a kid. It's what they do. He was pretty mild and not really offensive compared to what I'm used to dealing with."

Birch straightens up and a smile returns to his visage. "Alright, I've got a small meeting room in the back. We can talk privately there."

The professor turns to lead Lee to the back of the lab, but Lee stops for a moment. "Professor?"

Birch stops as well, turning to Lee with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Do you have a Psychic type on hand? Some of the things I have to say are kind of... hard to swallow I guess?" Lee looks away briefly from a sudden spike in nervousness. "Having a second listener that can't be lied to might make this easier for you to believe."

Birch's earlier caution is back as his face hardens, but he nods. "I do. My Medicham isn't a true mind reader, but he can read brainwaves and separate lies from truths. Do you really think that what you have to say is so outrageous?"

"One hundred percent."

Birch dips a hand into his labcoat and pulls out a weathered pokeball covered in nicks and scuffs. It bursts open in his hands, and in a flash of white light, a Medicham materializes by his side.

The short humanoid glances to Birch, then to Lee and Vulpix, utterly dismissing them as a threat.

' _Probably for good reason,'_ Lee muses, looking at the whipcord muscles rippling under Medicham's scar pockmarked skin. In the corner of his eye, he can see Vulpix frown at being overlooked so easily, but she doesn't make a fuss.

"Medicham," Birch begins, making the pokemon instantly turn his attention to his trainer. "My friend here says he has some outlandish things to explain and suggested your help in verifying them. Can you passively scan and be a lie detector for us please?"

Medicham nods without a word.

The pair of men and pokemon continue on to the back, passing several aides who look at Medicham pensively. Birch stops before a door on the right and opens it, flipping on the lights to reveal a small room with several chairs and a table between them. Both men step inside and seat themselves with Vulpis still on Lee's shoulders and Medicham opting to stand by Birch with crossed arms.

"Alrighty," Birch says, folding his hands and leaning on the table. "Whenever you're ready, Lee. Medicham?"

The Fighting/Psychic's eyes glow the slightest amount.

' _Don't. Fuck. Up.'_

"Okay... jeez I almost don't know how to open this..." Lee says, running gentle fingers over his burn. "I don't even have all the details myself here. I'll be frank, professor. This isn't exactly regarding some super secret training method. It could if everything goes well, but..."

Birch and Medicham exchange glances.

Lee runs his hand through his hair and sighs. Vulpix cuddles a little closer and noses his cheek, looking at him with her soulful chocolate eyes. The man tries to pull has much strength as he can from his little fox and continues. "Professor, this is going to be a leap, but what do you know about the Multiverse theory?"

Birch's hard face melts into confusion. "I've not studied it in depth, but I'm aware of the basics. Everything that could happen is either happening, already happened, or is going to happen in another universe, right? Why bring that up?"

Lee steels himself. No going back now. "I'm not from this universe, professor. Through a method I'm still trying to puzzle out, I've been ripped away from my home dimension and brought here with nothing but what I have on me. The trip is why I look so roughed up. I came to you because I need help from someone trustworthy."

The pokemon professor goes totally still, then turns to Medicham slowly. The pokemon lets out a breath through his nose and gives one quick nod.

The whole room is silent for almost a solid, agonizing minute as Lee waits for Birch's retort. Birch just stares at the younger man with an expression that he can't place, making him squirm.

' _I knew it. I knew this wasn't going to end well. I'm going to get called crazy then thats end, game over. Life in a padded cell. I_ _ **really**_ _need to learn how to think things through.'_

Vulpix's cheek suddenly being nuzzled to his takes the edge off his panic, but Lee can still feel his heart hammering.

Finally, Birch lets out a sigh and breaks his intense stare. "Well, uh. Thats quite... something? Medicham knows you're not lying, but please understand this still sounds crazy, and Medicham's scanning isn't perfect. If it's a delusion that is strongly believed, his scan can be fooled. Do you have anything to back this up?"

Hope begins to build in Lee's heart. _Birch might believe him._ He takes his wallet and phone from his pocket and hands both over. "Here. See if these seem familiar in the least bit."

Birch opens the wallet and takes a look at Lee's driver's license, inspecting it carefully. "State of Ohio?" He asks, moving the card around to see the different holographic layers embedded in it.

"My home," Lee supplies. "One of fifty individual states that makes up the collective nation of the United States of America."

Birch nods absently and looks at the money and credit card inside the wallet. "Fifty states huh? Must be a governing nightmare," he quips. "I'm assuming Chase is the bank?" he asks, holding up Lee's credit card.

"A bank, yes."

"Don't you mean _the_ bank?" Birch asks with a raised brow.

Lee frowns. " _A_ bank. Chase was the one to screw me over the least so I went with them. Though with how they've been wanting to nickel and dime me recently, I'm almost happy to be here just out of spite."

Birch mouths 'nickel and dime?' and replaces the license and credit card before pulling out the small handful of dollar bills in the wallet. "Physical bank notes?" he asks, sounding incredulous. "These went out of style years ago. The bank doesn't even print bills anymore. And what's a dollar?"

"Well, physical currency protects against the dangers of having an account hacked or a catastrophic failure and/or attack destroying someone's account." Lee shrugs.

Birch shakes his head. "With the number of Porygon that the bank employ, any attack on the bank, physical or electronic, is doomed to fail. Physical bills are just a liability now. Does 'Chase' _not_ use Porygon or something?" He asks with some mirth, as if the notion was ridiculous.

"There were no pokemon in my dimension, so they really can't."

Birch completely freezes, his eyes widening to an almost impossible degree. Medicham mirrors his trainer, staring at Lee with shocked eyes. Birch recovers and looks over to Medicham, who can only gulp and nod.

Lee tries not to squirm as both stare him down, saying nothing. _'I guess that is kind of a big bomb to drop outta nowhere.'_

Vulpix growls and slides down from Lee's shoulder, landing on the table and standing defensively in front of him, her tails flared and a growl in her throat.

"Vulpix, please, there's no need for that," Lee says gently, carefully picking up the vixen and settling her in his lap. Vulpix doesn't fight, but the growl in her throat remains.

Birch finally speaks up again. "I believe you."

Vulpix stops growling and Lee's head shoots up, elation filling him.

' _No fucking way.'_

The professor sighs and slumps in his seat, his face lost. He takes a moment to formulate any words. "No pokemon? I can't even... comprehend a world like that. I don't think _anyone_ can. I have so many whys and hows I want to ask, but I don't think I'd understand. Not even the most deranged person could say "there was no pokemon in my alternate dimension" and honestly believe it, and no one sane would come up with such an unthinkable lie," Birch says, leaning back in his chair and holding a palm to his forehead. "Medicham backing you up and all the hard-to-fake bits and bobs you have make for a compelling argument too, so... Wait..."

He sits back up and stares at Lee and Vulpix. "If you are from a dimension with no pokemon, where did you get Vulpix? Or even know about pokemon? And how did you know about me for that matter?"

Lee mulls over his answer. "Can you pass me my phone?"

Birch slides the cracked phone over to Lee. "A phone huh? I guess that makes sense, though I thought it was some old pokegear or a pokedex."

"That's not inaccurate," Lee says, unlocking the phone and scrolling through his apps to his emulator. "As for how I know about pokemon, they don't truly exist back home, but were a popular media franchise that had everything from toys, games, movies, TV shows, you name it. Pokemon was a cultural phenomenon that started twenty years back and bridged the generation gap with ease. I guess I never quite outgrew pokemon..." He says quietly. "As for how I got Vulpix, I have a theory, but the exact how and why is still a mystery. Here, look at this."

Lee shows the phone screen to Birch, who leans in with open interest. "This is one of the games I mentioned. I frequent it when on break at work and whatnot. I know you since you're briefly featured at the beginning to give the player the first pokemon and the mission to complete the pokedex. I just started a new game in the Hoenn region, and with some code finagling, got a random starter in the form of Vulpix here."

"Me in a video game, huh? I hope they were flattering at least," Birch quips as Lee clicks open the menu and opens the 'Pokemon' option, showing a solitary Vulpix in the lead slot.

"This is from an older save state of the game. In the newest..."

Lee opens the save state menu and clicks on the newest one. Again, he opens the pokemon menu, showing Birch an empty menu. The game music gets stuck as the game freezes then crashes.

The professor connects the dots instantly. "No. You think that..?"

"Something took Vulpix from the game and deposited her with me?" Lee finishes, closing his phone and storing it away. "I don't have any other explanation," he says, running a hand through Vulpix's soft tuft of breast fur, the vixen rewarding him with a coo of appreciation. "A pokeball with a Vulpix that somehow knows me appearing in my pocket the exact same time that this game with a Vulpix spontaneously corrupts itself seems suspect even after all the crazy shit that's happened to me today."

Birch nods along absently before leaning back. "Medicham? Can you get me some aspirin please?"

The pokemon, who has been silent the entire time, powers down his psychic power and slips out the door without a single sound.

"Sorry for the headache, professor."

The older man waves away the sheepish apology. "It's fine, Lee. If I was in your shoes, I would do the same thing if I could stop freaking out long enough," he says, leaning back up. "How did you end up in out world anyway?" he asks, leaning forward in interest.

"Again, I have only theories, but the most likely..." Lee trails off, hesitating. "Do you know what n-nuclear fission is, professor?" He asks, resisting the urge to touch his burns.

"Like with power plants and whatnot, yes? It's not my field of study, but I've read some things and watched a few documentaries."

"Yeah, and..." Lee gulps and suppresses his shaking. "Yeah, power plants."

He can feel Vulpix's eyes and hot breath on his chin. Birch notices something out of place as well and frowns. "Lee, you're pale. If you don't want to say, that's okay."

"I was caught in a nuclear explosion, one with city-leveling yield," Lee forces out as fast as he can without the words turning to mush. "I-I can speculate all day about how physics might have broken down under that kind of strain and punched a hole in space, but I'm not an expert so..." He takes a deep breath and focuses on the soft fox in his lap, forcing the image of...of...

**Skin peeling**

**Flesh bubbling**

Forcing the imagery from his mind before the bile rolling in his stomach could rise into his mouth. Lee swallows dryly and takes great heaving breaths of blessedly cool and not superheated air. Sweat dots his brow and his burns pinch and sting. He loosely hugs Vulpix, who cuddles into his arms without any protest and watches his face with troubled eyes.

Birch gulps and looks away, his expression disturbed and his hands wringing themselves. "W-well. Maybe we should move on to more pleasant topics? Was all the information on that licence correct and up to date?"

Lee blinks at the strange question. "Yeah, it was. My DL was updated just a few months back. Why?"

"We're going to need that info for me to sign as your sponsor."

' _What?'_

"What?"

Birch looks nonplussed, but repeats himself. "We're going to need that info for me to sign as your sponsor."

"As my sponsor?" Lee questions, looking to Vulpix who just shakes her head. "I don't follow."

The professor groans and lightly slaps his own forehead. "Duh, Birch. Different worlds. I guess your games never went into detail about trainer sponsorships?"

"No mention at all."

Birch hums. "Okay, so being a sponsored trainer is a pretty simple thing. I give you a pokedex and the League fronts you a bi-weekly stipend to use as you see fit. In return, you're considered an active trainer who operates on my behalf and represents me in official tournaments while you conduct your own studies. Basically? You get paid to battle and bring prestige to the lab, and the better you do, the better grants I get from the League and the bigger your stipend becomes. I only have two sponsor slots since I'm the newest regional professor. One is going to Brendan, but my friend Norman decided he'd pay for his daughter's journey himself, so I have a free spot for you. Great, isn't it?!"

Lee sticks a pinky in his ear and rubs it around. When the digit comes back clean, he levels the grinning Birch with a flat look. "I'm sorry. I must have something crazy stuck in my ear. It sounds like you're just handing a coveted position to me. An interdimensional stranger."

The professor's grin falls some. "Is this... not what you wanted?"

"I expected a couch to crash on for a day or two as I got up to speed without anyone asking questions, and maybe being pointed to a job that a guy with no ID can do," Lee says with a shake of his head. "I just need something to keep Vulpix and myself fed and warm as I figure out my next steps. I dunno if you-"

"I'm certain."

Lee stops at Birch's curt reply. "You said you came here with a revolutionary training method, and I know you were fibbing to have an excuse to talk to me, but," Birch smirks, "I think you _do_ have a revolutionary training method, even if you don't know it."

The younger man blinks. "I don't follow."

"Answer me this, Lee. How good are you are those pokemon games? How much do you know about pokemon?" He asks. After a second of inspecting Lee's clothing, he also adds; "And what did you do for a living back home? Something outdoorsy I take?"

Lee thinks to himself for a moment, rubbing a circle in Vulpix's chest tuft with a thumb. "I played competitively as a teen against other people and did fairly well with a few local tourney wins to my name. That's more being aware of the current meta and prep than actual skill. At that age, I had pretty much the entire pokedex of every available game memorized, but that's limited to types, movesets, stats, and whatnot with no actual biology or behavior factored in. And as for what I was, I was a zookeeper, one specialized to work with large carnivores, though I frequently lended a hand to other exhibits."

Now Birch seems confused. "But you said there were no pokemon?"

"There aren't," Lee replies, stopping when Medicham returns with a glass of water and several pills for the professor.

Birch accepts both the water and aspirin with a smile. "Thanks, friend."

Medicham returns the smile with a small one of his own.

The professor tosses the pills into his mouth and downs the entire glass before turning back to Lee. "Sorry about the interruption, Lee. Please keep going."

Lee does. "Like I was saying, there aren't pokemon back home, so animals filled their place. Think pokemon, only much less intelligent and lacking any special powers."

"I'm aware of what animals are," Birch says, now looking at Lee with a manic, almost unsettling gleam in his eye. "They don't exist outside special reserves and farms anymore since fighting with pokemon for territory is near impossible, but anything outside of domesticated livestock is dangerous and unpredictable. You handled carnivores of all things?"

"A handful of scars and the Zoology degree gathering dust in my closet say so," Lee quips, leaning back into his chair. "Hell, my elder lioness, Makiri tried to kill me this morning."

Vulpix looks at him with ill-concealed alarm and Birch grimaces briefly before his face-hurting smile returns full force.

"So, let me get this straight," he begins. "You have knowledge of advanced battling strategies that had to be used with the constraints of a video game, wide-spanning knowledge of both pokemon and the world, experience handling creatures much more violent and unpredictable than pokemon, and obviously the ability to comprehend advanced biological and psychological principles based on the fact that you handled animals of all things. What part of this sounds like you'd make anything other than a _stellar_ trainer? It even shows with miss Vulpix here. You've had her for less than a day and already she's gladly jumped to your defence several times."

Lee bites his lip and looks down at Vulpix.

The vixen in his lap looks up back at him, her eyes narrowed just the slightest amount.

"If I didn't think you were worth the investment, then I wouldn't offer," Birch keeps going, leaning forward. "This opens countless doors for you, Lee. I... don't really know where to begin on getting you back home, but this is a good stopgap for you at least?"

"Short of tracking down and beseeching Palkia to help me somehow, I don't think I'm getting back," Lee mutters, crossing his arms as he feels a headache start to form. "I need to care for Vulpix now, after all. Not that I have anything to return to anyway."

Oh.

_Oh no._

_It's all gone._

It wasn't just him destroyed. The Zoo, his friends, his family, his animals.

_All of them are gone._ Gone without the peace ignorance of their fate could have brought.

_Even if he went back there is_ _**nothing** _ _to return to._

The realization makes Lee blood run cold as his eyes sting with with prickling, unshed tears. The man focuses hard on the fox on his lap and pushes the mounting breakdown away, desperate to not bawl like a child in front of his pokemon and the professor.

Vulpix shifts and noses his chin, again drawing his attention to her. She turns in his lap to face him and rears up on her hindlegs, placing her front paws on his shoulders. The vixon's eyes draw his in as she leans forward and presses her forehead to his, then the captivating eyes glow.

_Trust._

_Support._

_Empathy._

_Loyalty._

_**Companionship. Always. No matter the choice.** _

The raw emotions Vulpix feeds to Lee almost makes the man choke up and let out the tears he's holding back. Each one reverbs inside his mind with incredible strength, a conviction borne of being absolute. Vulpix feels all of this _for him._

' _What in the world have I done to have someone like you at my side?'_

Vulpix's answer is swift. Visions fly through his mind with incredible speed.

_He opens her ball, then takes the hard but right choice to explain things to her, even after the stress of living through the unthinkable and losing it all. How after that, he still regards her concerns on the same level as his, how he consults her rather than just choosing for her, how he saw_ _**being with her as a real, valid reason for not returning home. Goodness deserves goodness.** _

Again, she hammers her feelings home.

_Trust._

_Support._

_Empathy._

_Loyalty._

_**Companionship. Always. No matter the choice.** _

_**Goodness deserves goodness.** _

Lee sucks in a shaking breath, glad that Vulpix's gentle face blocks Birch from seeing the tear tracks running down his face. "Professor? Where do I sign?"

* * *

"And that will do it!"

Professor Birch takes the final paper from Lee eagerly, turning in his office chair to a scanner on a cluttered side desk. "I think this is the first step in something beautiful, Lee! Steven Stone's rise has done a lot for Hoenn, but we're still considered one of the weaker regions. I know you can change that when you take the world by storm! And think of all the incredible discoveries only someone with your unique talents could find!"

Lee rolls his sore wrist and looks around the professor's messy office. "I still think you're overestimating me, professor. I can certainly try, but I don't know how much I can do," he says, leaning back into his chair.

Birch curses and smacks the scanner, then turns to his newest trainer when the machine finally starts accepting the forms Birch fed into it. "Well of course you can't do it all. Not alone, at least. If Vulpix is any indication, then you'll have no problem building a team."

At hearing her name, Vulpix stops pawing the oblivious Lotad that had wandered into the office and looks up. After a second, she goes back to Lotad, who finally seems to realize he's being touched with a quiet "Tad?"

"Vulpix is a sweetheart who took pity on my lost ass. She's an exception, not the norm," Lee retorts. He yelps when he feels a nip on his pinky and looks down to see Vulpix glaring up at him.

"You're not doing a great job convincing me," Birch says with mirth. "Since you're a special case, I'll need to submit your paperwork to the League to get your license set up. I marked your birth place as a 'remote region/unnamed island' so make sure your story stays the same for anyone who asks. It'll take a week or two to be approved, but that's not a big deal. It'll give you some time for self-study and recovery, and the League year recently ended too. It'll start back up here in about a month if you want to try the gym circuit."

' _Time to relax. Now that I could use. Today seems to have dragged on for fucking weeks and my smokes didn't even get ported with me. What a goddamn rip.'_

"I imagine. The corner store sells cigarettes, but good luck without any ID."

Lee's face flushes. "I said that out loud, didn't I?"

Birch laughs and reaches into a drawer on his desk. "You did. I can't make the ID show up faster, but maybe this will take your mind off it," he says, placing a device on the desk that makes Lee's eyes widen.

A Pokedex. An actual _Pokedex._ It suddenly lights up and a synthesized voice begins to play. _"I am the Pokedex of Lee Henson. I was issued by Professor Birch of Hoenn. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced._ "

"Yeah," Lee breathes, his chest tight. "I've been looking for an excuse to quit anyway. I don't know how to thank you, professor."

Birch slides the Pokedex closer with a smile. "I took the liberty of pre-installing a voice recorder in there for you. I want to pick your brain, Lee Henson, so I want you log your training, studies, and discoveries and periodically turn them into me. Even if it seems like something silly to record, please do so, and that'll be all the thanks I need. What seems simple to you could be unique or even revolutionary in reality. Now!" Birch claps his hands together. "I think you've earned some rest. There is a guest room in the back for you to use. It's a little cramped but it should fit one man and his pokemon just fine."

Lee stands and picks up the- _his_ Pokedex before bowing his head. "Thank you for everything, Professor. It means the world to me."

"Vulpix!" Vulpix chimes in from his side.

The man smiles down at his fox. "Means the world to _us_ , I mean."

Professor Birch waves both off with a smile. "Go rest. I'll order some takeout or something for dinner and get you both later. Lee, close your mouth. You're not imposing if I charge it as a lab expense."

Lee lets his protest die in his mouth with a sigh. "Fine. I'm too tired to argue anyway." He looks down to Vulpix. "Lets scoot, love. I need a nap."

The man and fox leave Birch to his work and head to the back of the lab like he instructed. With every step, Lee feels himself slump a little more as an all-encompassing exhaustion finally grips him. He slips his Pokedex into his pocket as to not drop it and opens the door marked "Guest" at the end of the hallway.

The door swings open with a squeak, revealing a spartan bedroom with naught but a plain bed, a nightstand with a lamp, and a door to a tiny bathroom.

Everything but the bed is ignored as Lee flops into it with zero grace. He groans in relief and lets his tired body sag into the mattress. Sleep rapidly overtakes him and he shuts his eyes, but just before he can fully pass out, something shakes the bed.

He cracks open an eye to see Vulpix settling into the crook of his arm, her head on his bicep. She smiles at him and cuddles a little closer.

With herculean effort, Lee hugs her close, almost losing himself in the delicious warmth her small body provides.

"You know, Vulpix?" he whispers, eye closing again. "I think everything is going to be okay."

Sleep takes him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey of a thousand miles begins with a lot of prep work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> Please point out mistakes no please I am retarded and

* * *

The thick book closes with a "whap!" and falls from limp fingers into the table just under it.

Lee groans and reclines back into the now not-very-comfortable library reading chair he's been sitting in for almost four hours. He looks back down at the 600-some page book he had just finished. The title reads _Advanced Biology of Mammalian Fire Types_. It was an utterly fascinating read, adding a rich depth to his understanding of the inner workings of Pokemon, but it was just as dry a read as every awful McGraw Hill textbook he had to memorize in college.

With a grumble, Lee picks the book back up and gently sets it in his meager "Complete" pile, where _Nutrition and Health of Canid Pokemon, World History Abridged, Modern Move Training Guide: Special Edition, Forest Tales: To Live With Wilderness, Berry Tips for Those in a Hurry,_ and _So You Think You Can Battle._ Next to the complete pile is a much more intimidating "Unread" pile. The next one on the list is a mammoth text with the title _Official Pokemon_ _League Regulations - Complete._

"Wowie, what a fuckin' joy," Lee mutters to himself. "I'm so happy I could burst. Maybe I could use a break?"

In his pocket, Vulpix's pokeball shakes in agreement.

"That's all the encouragement I need," he grins, peeling himself from the chair and standing with a groan. The man stretches his arms over his head, relishing the feeling of his sore muscles loosening. He then shoulders the green backpack by his table and heads towards the front door of Little Root's small library, passing the absent librarian's Solrock on the way. "We'll be back in a bit, chief. Keep my pile there please?"

"Sol." the great hunk of sun-shaped rock grumbles out in a voice like cinder blocks across concrete.

Lee steps out into the balmy mid afternoon sun of Little Root, the harsh sun rays instantly making his burn scars sting. He frowns and digs in his pocket, then pulls Vulpix's ball out. "Alrighty girl, do your thing." He throws the ball and it snaps open mid-air, a burst of white energy materializing into Vulpix by his feet.

Vulpix blinks the stars from her eyes and stretches with a little yawn.

"It's kinda bullshit I have to keep you in your ball when I know that Solrock has a Fire move stashed away somewhere," Lee grumbles, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Who would be dumb enough to take an uncontrollable Fire type into a library anyway?"

The vixen levels her trainer with a flat look.

He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Common sense not being all that common and all. But still."

"Vul, vulpix vul, vulpix." Vulpix replies dully. _"Not that I would enjoy a library more than my ball anyway,"_ Lee interprets. Vulpix then closes her eyes and lets out a breath, focus overtaking her visage.

Slowly, the sunlight beaming down on Lee began to dim, forming a curious, circular space around him that isn't as brightly lit as his surroundings. The man grins with the stinging of his burns ease. His thoughts turn towards the last three weeks and Vulpix's incredible progress.

* * *

_Day 2_

"Just a few more girl, then we're good."

Vulpix makes a noise that sounds almost exactly like a sigh but dutifully remains still.

Lee glances down at the borrowed notebook in his hand and his pokedex with it's entry on Vulpix open beside his crossed legs. Before him on the guest bed they share, Vulpix stands still and submits herself to her trainer's poking and prodding.

The first thing on Lee's list once employment and shelter were secured was giving Vulpix a full physical. Or at least as full a physical as he could with just his hands and his pokedex to gauge baselines.

' _All pretty inline with what I'd expect from a vulpine on the smaller side if I'm being honest.'_ Lee inwardly muses. _'Muscle density and high temperature notwithstanding. If her paws could get enough traction, I wouldn't be surprised if Vulpix could pull a car behind her!"_

Lee finishes looking in her ears with a nod. "Ears clean and clear, though I doubt any bacteria could take hold with your temperature. Turn and face the side wall please," he says, putting a little check mark by 'ears' in his notebook.

Vulpix turns and faces the wall, presenting her side to her trainer with her bored expression still in place.

Reaching a hand under her, Lee carefully runs a hand over her sternum and feels her ribs. He pushes a little harder than normal to feel the bones under the thin layer of dense muscle on the vixen's chest. For a moment, he holds his hand still to gauge her resting breathing and heart rate, counting the breaths and heartbeats in his head. _'Again, all very normal. Ribs can be felt but not seen. Resting heart rate seems a little low for her size, but that can be chalked up to athleticism or genetics. IVs maybe? Breathing is clear and steady."_

He pats lower on her belly. _'No sagging or hanging skin. Fur is even. One, two, three, four... eight nipples, evenly spaced and uniform in feel. Skin and muscle leading to her hindlegs is pliant, yet taut at rest.'_

"So far so good. Not that I expected any problems from you, love," Lee murmurs, jotting down his notes. "Almost done. Turn a little more so you face away."

Vulpix gives him a long look.

Lee rolls his eyes. "Does it help if I say you're pretty and I have trouble _not_ touching you?"

The flattery seems to work, as Vulpix complies, turning away and facing the far wall. Her flat expression remains, however.

"Alrighty, just relax for this one."

The man sets down his notebook and gently lifts her left hind paw with his right hand. His other hand gently presses against her rump as he carefully moves her leg, gauging all the muscles in her leg working in sync. _'Again, the muscle density is incredible. She should be able to leap a whole building with these legs. It violates so much of what I know about biology. And to think she can only get more powerful. Heh. I have no idea if that's frightening or wonderful.'_ He repeats the action with her other leg, satisfied when both are uniform and healthy. "Alrighty girl. I think I've got a working baseline for you now. I'll quit molesting you."

Vulpix flops down and rolls over onto her back with a happy snuffle, glad to finally be off her paws.

Meanwhile, Lee picks up his notes and scan them over. He looks down to his pokedex and scrolls though it to the voice recorder. Setting the notebook down, the man holds his pokedex up and hits the record button. "Day two of being a trainer. Or is it day one?" He wonders. "We'll call it two. I've finished giving Vulpix as good a physical as I can without tools or monitoring equipment. She is within the acceptable standards of a canid her size without much significant deviation, her internal temperature and muscle density being the only significant outliers. More on that later. I didn't bother with much cognitive or _any_ intelligence testing. Vulpix was alert and aware during the physical even if she was bored to death. Any intelligence test I could have given would have been outright demeaning to her and easily solved. Suffice to say she is smarter than most of the people I know and probably smarter than myself as well."

The vixen smirks a little at hearing that, but the smirk quickly turns into a tongue-lolling smile when Lee reaches over to rub her belly.

"Let it be known that the crafty fox is still susceptible to a well-placed belly rub and her heart of gold taking pity on hopeless humans," Lee says, smirking himself as Vulpix tries not to let her leg kick in pleasure. "Vulpix's muscle density is incredible. She's like a wall when her muscles are tensed and I know for a fact she is much physically stronger than I pound for pound, and probably just outright stronger than myself or anyone of similar size despite the weight difference. I'll need actual equipment and not just hand-n-eyeball estimates to be sure. Her skin temperature seems to be around one-hundred ten Fahrenheit. Utterly feverish for a person, but very comfortable for her. I don't have an accurate gauge for internal temperature, but just from feeling her breath I can estimate somewhere close to..." Lee bites his lip and thinks. "At least one-hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Again, doing this without tools so actual numbers may vary. I'll probably do another physical if Vulpix is feeling up to it in a weeks time to confirm these estimates. Lee, out."

* * *

_Day 3_

"I really need some new duds, love," Lee says with a grimace, looking down at his tattered Zoo uniform. "I can wash these all I like, they're still falling apart."

Vulpix inspects her trainer's clothing, not really seeing the big deal. Pokemon wear nothing and no one bats an eye. Why should humans hide themselves in clothes?

"We're still two weeks out from our first check though, and I can't ask Birch since we're already living off his generosity," Lee frowns.

_Knock knock knock!_

Both Lee and Vulpix turn to the bedroom door. The knob turns and the door opens just enough for a smiling Brendan to poke his head. "Heya Lee? Guess what came in super early!" He exclaims, holding up a pair of envelopes. "They're from the League and there's one for each of us. I bet they were having a slow day or dad submitted our papers right as the offices opened again for the new league year to get these here so fast. One guess on what they are!"

Lee feels his jaw drop a little. "Are those Trainer IDs?"

Brendan's grin lights up the room. "Heck yeah! Here!" He throws one envelope like a frisbee to Lee, who snatches it out of the air and looks at the envelope with naked curiosity.

"I'm going to go open mine and talk to dad. The new batch of starters should be here soon as well!" Brendan practically dances in place. "Mudkip, here I come!" Then as fast as he came, Brendan is gone, his rapid footsteps racing down the hall.

Lee shakes his head. "That boy ain't right. Anyway..." He seats himself back on the bed and opens the envelope with Vulpix watching. The first thing to come out is a short letter.

_To: Lee Henson_

_The Pokemon League is proud to induct you into our ranks as an official Pokemon Trainer. You now have the privilege of entering all Pokemon League sanctioned events (upon meeting prerequisites) in all Pokemon League recognized regions._

' _No Alola then,'_ Lee thinks.

_The enclosed identification card will be your primary ID for Pokemon League sanctioned events and functions as a valid form of government ID. If lost, damaged, or stolen, please see your nearest Pokemon Center for a replacement. The replacement fee will depend on the Pokemon Center in question._

_As a Trainer sponsored by_ _Prof Birch - Hoenn_ _you are entitled to several special benefits. You will receive:_

_One (1) Biweekly stipend totaling $2,170.57 (post tax) per payment_

_One (1) Stipend advance of $1,981.23 (post tax)_

_Discounted use of non-medical Pokemon Center services_

_Upon deposit of the enclosed stipend advance voucher, the Pokemon League will issue biweekly payments to the account that received the voucher for the above listed amount. Please contact the Pokemon League billing department if this information needs to be updated and/or changed._

Lee blinks and looks a little closer at the paper to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. "What the fuck? I make more just _existing_ here than I did busting my ass in the zoo?" He slumps. "And they give kids this kind of money? Holy hell this is all sorts of fucked up."

_We at the Pokemon League wish you the best in this new and wonderful chapter in yours and your Pokemon's lives Mr Henson. Adventure and new friendships await you._

_Signed,_

_Steven Stone, Hoenn Champion._

Lee shakes his head as he looks at the smudges the stamp used to make "Steven's" signature left. "Adventure and friendships huh? Corny, but I kinda like it in an ironic kind of way. What say you, love?"

Vulpix just snorts and cocks an eyebrow.

"Yeah, me too," the now official trainer agrees. "If this isn't some good timing then I don't know what is. Maybe this is why Birch was so frantic to get the paperwork submitted so quickly?" He shakes his head. "Either way, I think we have some shopping to do. Care to come with?"

Vulpix rolls back to her belly and visibly mulls the thought, her little brows furrowing. She then hops from the bed to Lee's shoulders, her choice made.

The trip to the bank is a short and uneventful one. One flash of Lee's trainer ID and the teller behind the counter whisked him off to make an account. Fifteen minutes later, he was the owner of an account with a new debit card in his wallet.

"They didn't even bat an eye when I said my place of residence was the lab," Lee muses, walking down to Little Root's modest shopping district with a relaxed gait. "Much less strict than Chase, who wanted my... everything really, sans the soul of my firstborn."

The vixon resting across his shoulders gives him a queer look, as if she's debating the validity of his absurd statement.

Lee glances over to her and snorts. "Not actually, love. But if they did, I really would not be surprised," he says, twisting a little to let a boy and his Lombre walk past. "Trusting a bank is a good way to end up dead and penniless back home. Like the hero Andrew Jackson once said, fuck banks... Or at least I think he said that."

The pair continue on. Even with Lee's sedate pace, the Little Root shopping district comes into view quickly. It's little more than a series of modest strip malls along the a side road to the west of town, but all the essentials are there.

Lee glances to his left toward the first store they pass, which happens to be the same clothing shop he noticed upon entering town the first time, where a girl left her Poochyena to hold his own leash as she went inside. It's easy to recall because the same Poochyena is there again, holding his own leash with an expression of pure boredom.

"Vulpix. Pix vulpix?" Vulpix ask down to Poochyena, who perks up and turns to face Lee and Vulpix.

Poochyena yaps and growls something past the leash in his mouth, to which Vulpix simply shakes her head.

"Little Root Outfitters, eh?" Lee reads the sign on the door. Right below the sign is a _No non-trainer pokemon please_ sign. "As good as any I guess. Good luck, little guy," he tells Poochyena.

He and Vulpix step inside, finding a run of the mill small town store. The woman at the check-out counter looks at Vulpix, then to Lee, not commenting on the pokemon not being in a ball.

Like with the bank, the pair are in and out in only a few minutes. The khaki safari uniform was replaced by a set of generic brand jeans, a belt with several pokeball clips, a plain black undershirt, and a dark green camo-patterned zip-up jacket made from some special breathable material called flo-fabric. "It's a staple for outerwear in hot places like Hoenn," the woman at the checkout counter commented. Lee's ankle-high hiking boots and his worn but durable black gloves didn't need replaced. He left with the new outfit on and with a bag containing several other outfits of slight variation.

"Alrighty, now the part I'm definitely more eager for," Lee grins, looking towards the Pokemart. Vulpix just rolls her eyes.

The Pokemart is one of the larger stores in the town, standing separate from the strip with it's distinct white outer walls and blue roof. It doesn't look terribly special, but...

' _All the things inside are,'_ Lee thinks to himself with a barely hidden grin. _'Just think of it! I'll actually get to look at all the crazy, impossible stuff that makes modern life with pokemon possible.'_

As he and Vulpix walk up, he sees a trio of kids pointing into one of the windows of the mart, where several glittering gold things on display stands sit. "When I become a trainer these are all I wanna use!"

Curious, he and the vixen on his shoulders looks the kids's heads.

In the window are a trio of balls on a velvet pillow. A normal Pokeball, a Great Ball, and an Ultra Ball. Simple sprites on a screen can't do them justice, as the little devices sparkle in the sunlight almost beg to be picked up. Each one has beautiful engravings of various Pokemon on the lids done in silver, but the little label at the foot of the pillow makes him blanch.

_Vanity Balls_

_Starting at $749.99_

_See inside for details._

' _Jesus fuck thats a lot of money for a pokeball_ ,' He thinks, almost reeling. Then another thought strikes him. _'Hold on. How expensive are pokeballs anyway? A normal ball is two hundred or so poke funbucks, but I always thought that the game money has an exchange rate similar to Yen. I'm about to get fucked, aren't I?'_

Vulpix seems to sense his mood and noses his cheek, even if she doesn't fully understand why her trainer suddenly slumped.

Lee grumbles but strokes Vulpix along her neck, making her purr. _'A curious sound for a fox to make,'_ Lee idly thinks, mentally filing it away as another oddity of Pokemon as he walks into the mart.

The inside of the Pokemart is like a petstore on steroids. Shelves and aisles filled to bursting with everything pokemon related, some of which Lee has no name for. He wanders in with naked wonder on his face, almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of new and alien things around him. It's only a last minute thought that makes him grab a cart. There are standard things like toys, treats, grooming kits, and different blends of food. Then there are things you'd only find in a pokemart like fire retardant, hydrophobic, or slash/puncture resistant pet beds. A bookshelf on the far wall is filled with books about pokemon rearing and breeding. At the front behind the check out is a wide glass case with the really familiar things, like pokeballs, potions, and disks that can only be TMs. The various aisles are divided by Pokemon type, with Fire being one of the first, so Lee heads down that one.

"Man, look at all this stuff," he murmurs, taking in all the different things around. Vulpix likewise cranes her head around to peer at all the strange sights with a critical eye. "Well, we've got plenty to spend, so why not?"

Lee grabs a number of things that catch both his and Vulpix's eyes. A deluxe grooming kit is the first, much to Vulpix's delight. Then a pair of fire retardant gloves, a small fire extinguisher, a large stick of 'edible' charcoal, a thermometer rated for 1000°F, and a few other things that seem like they would aid in the raising of Vulpix's more supernatural side. Lee glances over the 'League recommended' Fire type omnivore pokemon food blend with a measure of distaste, however.

"This ingredient list is a little vague," he mutters, looking at the back of a smaller bag. "The fuck is an _optimum blend of meats, veggies, and berries_ suppose to mean to me? Is there not an actual ingredient list?" He shakes his head and looks back to his placid Vulpix. "Nah. I'll just make your food myself, love. I'll trust the stuff Birch provided, but after that I'm taking over." And with that, a food pellet baller goes in the cart.

Vulpix's six tails wag slowly, making Lee stifle a giggle when they tickle his neck.

The last stop is the bookshelf on the far wall, where a copy of _Nutrition and Health of Canid Pokemon_ gets picked up before the checkout becomes the final stop.

The teen girl in a blue pokeball-marked apron manning the counter glances up and quickly puts her phone away when Lee and Vulpix approach. She plasters a wide smile to her face. "Find everything okay?"

"Just fine, thanks," Lee smiles back. He glances back at the glass case where all the Pokeballs are held and suddenly understands why they're kept separate. The things are a whopping $179.99 a pop, just for a standard Pokeball. The Ultras are an unearthly $1,199.99 for a _single ball_. Nearly the game price.

' _Suddenly the high stipend payments make sense,'_ Lee thinks as he unloads his cart for the cashier to scan. _'I can only imagine what sort of hell it must be to be low-income and wanting to e a trainer. I should thank Birch again.'_

Luckily Potions and whatnot are more reasonable, with Potions only being $50.00 for a large spray bottle's worth. Super Potions are pricer at $149.99, and Hyper Potions can go fuck themselves at $700.00. Lee doesn't even bother looking at the Max Potion or the TMs.

"Can I get a basic Potion as well?"

The cashier nods and fishes some keys out of her apron pocket, then turns, opens the glass case, and takes out a Potion in one practiced movement. "Anything else today? You got quite a bit, so maybe a Sliph Co bag?"

Lee blinks. "A Sliph Co bag?"

The cashier hums as she scans and bags another item. "MmmHmm."

"I'm afraid I don't follow. I take it a Sliph bag is special or something?"

He girl raises an eyebrow at Lee.

"I already know what you're thinking, and yes, I'm from way out in the boonies," Lee sighs.

"A Sliph bag uses the same stuff as pokeballs. You know? With the whole matter to energy and space expanding... thing?" She tries to explain, give her hand a vague wave. "I don't really understand it, but it's bigger on the inside than outside. Somehow."

' _I can hear physics weep hideously in the distance,'_ Lee silently muses. _'It does neatly explain how the main character in the games carries all his junk and how everyone in the anime can carry full camping gear in a backpack though. Sounds useful too'_ "Sure. How much?"

She turns back to the glass case and reaches into the back, pulling out a rather standard looking backpack seemingly made from green canvas with leather straps. "These base models are all $1,360 before tax. Green okay?"

Lee tries hard to not let the pain on his face show. "Ech. Yeah. Better I get this sooner rather than later."

The cashier nods and scans the Sliph backpack. "Your total is $1,598.67. Is that with cash or card?"

Lee reluctantly hands his debit card over.

* * *

_Day 7_

A burst of Embers crash into an already burnt and battered log and detonate one by one with loud, jarring pops. Bits of smoldering wood are thrown across the dusty ground as new knotholes are blown into the hapless log. Nearby pokemon in the Little Root corral watch the proceedings with interest.

"Thats good!"

Vulpix cuts her Ember attack and lets the last few Embers hit their mark before turning to Lee.

Lee looks down at the notebook in his hands, where a rough sketch of Vulpix faces an upright cylinder marked "log". A label line between the two is marked "35 feet". The man steps closer to the log, noting that at this range Vulpix's Ember has spread to almost the edge. "Log is about a foot and a quarter wide, and the Ember marks are hitting the edge from thirty five feet, so..." Lee bites the end of his pen and jots some numbers down, trying to remember the formula he wants. "That means from Vulpix's mouth, Ember is spreading at about a twenty degree angle give or take some..." He looks at the log again. "The speed looked to be a good hundred or so feet per second, and her accuracy was dead on for a static target. If we can tighten that spread, then Ember could be a force to be reckoned with."

"Vul?" Vulpix asks with a tilt of her head.

Lee blinks and glances back with a sheepish smile. "Uh, sorry girl. Just crunching numbers. Let's give that another go, but this time..." He spins the log to its unblemished back and pulls a little piece of bark in the middle away, exposing bare wood. "Try to focus on this little point as hard as you can. The more Embers hit the very middle, the better. I'll watch and give the signal."

The man retreats back to Vulpix's side and crouches to watch her, notebook and pen ready. "Alrighty girl, Ember on the log."

Vulpix takes a deep breath, her chest swelling as orange flames glow in her mouth and lick at her lips. "Vul..." She draws her head back then thrusts it forward with a cry of "Pix!"

Small orange fireballs shoot from her mouth with a sound not unlike a submachine gun rattling through it's whole magazine. The Embers scream towards the log and explode against it's bark with a staccato of _Pop pop pop!_ , stripping a circle of charred bark around the original.

Lee watches the entire process from start to finish, ignoring the flare of unease the open flames invoke inside him. _'It's Vulpix. She would never hurt you.'_ He watches it all, from Vulpix's deep breath and flourish, to the first Ember loosed, to the first impact against the bark.

' _Does she even need the breath and flourish? Once the attack began, she didn't empty her lungs to maintain it, and I have no idea what part thrusting her head out did.'_ He wonders. "Alright love, that's good."

Vulpix closes her mouth and cuts off the attack. Once the last Ember impacts and the resulting smoke clears, it reveals a smaller area of effect on the smoldering log. Not by much, as only a few inches of intact bark remain at the edge of the log, but the improvement is still noticeable.

Lee grins and strokes Vulpix gently down her back, making the vulpine smile slightly and purr under his hand. "Great work, love. Memorize the feeling of narrowing down your attacks like that. I can already imagine the faces of some flyer when they think they're safely out of range only for a rail of Embers and shoot them down. And yes I meant 'rail' and not 'hail'."

Vulpix preens under the praise and turns her nose up, a small smile on her face. Her trainer shakes his head, but he wears a smile as well.

"Heeeey Leeeee!"

Both Lee and Vulpix look up to see Brendan racing towards them from the lab with a blinding grin on his face, but he's not alone. Scampering at his heels is a large Mudkip that follows him closely.

' _The starters must have come in, and Brendan got the pick of the litter. That Mudkip must be a good six inches taller than normal,'_ Lee thinks to himself. "Morning Brendan. I take it the starters are in?"

Brendan and Mudkip stop just short of Lee, both youngsters needing to skid to bleed off momentum. Brendan's megawatt grin is almost dazzling in its intensity. "You know it! Just look at this guy! Isn't he fantastic?" He asks, bending down to pick up and cradle the mudfish pokemon, who accepts the attention with a happy "Mudkip!"

Lee can't help but smile fondly at the scene. The sheer joy and wonder on Brendan's face reminds him of himself when he began his career in animals. "He's certainly a biggun. You two will go far together, I can already tell."

Both boy and pokemon flush under the praise, but Brendan bounces back quickly. "So dad said you and Vulpix where out here training? Pokemon grow fastest in battle, soooo how about _we_ battle, huh?"

The question makes Lee freeze. ' _I've spent the last few nights gazing up at the ceiling, dreaming up battle strats now that the game rules aren't a concern, but the prospect of actually battling... Can I actually order a pokemon to be harmed?'_

' _Can I stand to see Vulpix get hurt?'_

The very thought makes his gut twist into chilled knot. All he can imagine is cries of agony, cries of accusation. _Why didn't you do anything Lee._ _Who said I wanted to fight?_

"Vulpix!"

Vulpix steps up with narrowed eyes and a flick of her heart-marked ear, slicing against Lee's left as she steps forward and plants herself infront of her trainer, facing Brendan.

"She's eager," Brendan grins, looking back up to Lee. "So how about it?"

Lee gulps and does his best to keep his voice from trembling. "Y-Yeah, if Vulpix wants to, then I'm game."

The boy pumps a fist and retreats back about seventy feet before putting his Mudkip down, who steps forward with confidence.

Vulpix stand back to four legs and assumes a ready stance, her head low and tails fanned out. She glaces back to Lee, her normally placid eyes filled with burning energy and such _eagerness_ that the man is almost taken aback.

' _They're much hardier than people and made for combat,'_ a little voice in the back of Lee's head says, condensation dripping from every word. _'A battle with a fresh starter won't hurt her. Man up and live your dream._ '

Lee gulps again, his tension slowly draining in favor of a nervous energy that threatens to make his limbs shake. He quickly pulls out his Pokedex and points it at Vulpix after hitting the mute button. The Dex lights up with a picture of Vulpix, then quickly lists Vulpix's attributes. Lee skips all that and goes directly down to the movelist.

_Ember, Tail Whip, Roar, Baby-Doll Eyes, Quick Attack, Confuse Ray, Fire Spin, Payback, Will-O-Wisp._

The list is still the same as it was the first time he scanned Vulpix, and he quickly dedicates it to memory before stashing away his Dex.

"So how are we doing this?" Brendan calls from across the way. "Forfeit or knockout good?"

Lee steels himself and nods. "That's fine. If either side calls a timeout or gives up then it stops immediately, okay? And are you sure Brendan? Even with a type advantage on your side, Vulpix isn't a pushover."

A small part of Lee hopes Brendan reconsiders, but he just grins and dashes those hopes. "No way. That's the whole reason we want to battle."

The older trainer sighs. "Vulpix, ready?" He asks despite knowing the answer.

The fox growls, her hackles raised and tails lashing as she and Mudkip locked eyes.

Brendan looks at his feet and picks up a rock. "When this rock hits the ground, the battle begins," and without waiting for a reply, he tosses the rock into the middle of the impromptu arena.

Time seems to slow as Lee both watches the stone and takes in the entire field from his peripherals.

' _The wind is traveling southward and the arena has a slight tilt to the south,'_ Lee thinks silently as the stone inches closer to the ground and his nervousness transforms back into high-strung tension. _'The area is sparse grass, mostly dirt. Little danger of a wildfire. The other Pokemon in the corral have backed up, so little danger of collateral. Mudkip is about fifty feet out.'_ The stone is almost to the ground. _'Start strong. Debuff, stack DOT, then use Vulpix's speed to play keep away. The Mudkip line has unreal physical attack, so we'll start out with...'_

 _Thud!_ The stone bounces off the ground.

"Vulpix, Baby-Doll Eyes!" Lee orders before Brendan or Mudkip can even move.

The vixen lets her hackles fall and looks intently at Mudkip with wide, sparkling eyes filled with false innocence. Her chocolate orbs faintly glow with Fairy energy.

Mudkip falters, as if suddenly having second thoughts about fighting. At the same time, the sunlight suddenly becomes _sweltering_ as Vulpix's Drought activates, and Mudkip flinches and sways on his feet.

"W-What gives?" Brendan calls, shielding his eyes from the harsh sun with a grimace. "How did Vulpix use Sunny Day and Baby-Doll Eyes at once?"

"That wasn't Sunny Day," Lee calls back, fighting back his own grimace as the oven-like heat makes his burns throb. "Vulpix has the ability Drought," Lee debates ordering an attack immediately, but holds off, not wanting to come off as a bully in a friendly match.

"I've never heard of Drought before..." Brendan mutters, wiping at his sweaty brow. "Doesn't matter. We've got a match to win. Mudkip, Watergun!"

Lee watches carefully as Mudkip steadies himself and takes a deep breath in the same windup as Vulpix, his eyes locked onto the fox. Just as Mudkip stops the brief charging and starts moving to launch the attack, Lee reacts.

"Vulpix, dodge left now!"

The vixen darts to the left in a deft hop just as Mudkip's Watergun leaves his mouth. The water gouges into the ground with a muddy splash.

"Now, Confuse Ray!" Lee follows up.

Vulpix's eyes glow a sinister red with a growl from her.

Mudkip suddenly reels back with a cry as if struck and screws his eyes shut. The poor mudfish stumbles and opens his eyes, revealing them to be unfocused as he staggers around almost drunkenly. Mudkip then trips over his own feet and falls to his side, squirming helplessly.

"No, Mudkip!" Brendan cries, reaching out with a hand. "C'mon Mudkip! Get up! I know you can do it!" He pleads with such hurt and desperation that forfeiting instantly comes to the forefront of Lee's mind.

Mudkip grimaces and wobbles to his feet, struggling to maintain balance. It's a perfect time to attack, but Lee can't bring himself to issue an order. Vulpix looks back at him, her tails whipping impatiently as she waits for the call to strike.

"I told you, Brendan. Vulpix and I aren't good first opponents. Maybe call this off and find another trainer to challenge?" Lee asks, crossing his fingers behind his back.

"No way! No rough start can scare us!" Brendan roars. "Mudkip! Watergun the ground and cool off with some mud!"

' _What?'_

"Mud!" Mudkip calls in his high pitched voice. In a lucid moment, he takes a breath and Waterguns the ground below himself, kicking up a plume of muddy water and obscuring himself.

"Now Tackle!" Brendan calls over the roar of the water.

Mudkip charges out of the mud plume in a full sprint, eyes clear and form refreshed. He locks onto Vulpix, who freezes up.

' _Shit shit shit!'_

"Vulpix, Quick Attack to dodge right!" Lee frantically calls.

"Dodging with an attack..?" Brendan questions with a blink.

The vixen snaps out of her shock just in time. A white energy envelopes her form as she jukes to the right as little more than a blur of red. Mudkip just barely misses her and skids to a stop, looking around.

' _If I don't do something, Vulpix is going to get hurt, but if we fight back, Mudkip is going to get trashed...'_ Lee takes a shaky breath. The choice is neither hard or long. _'Sorry Mudkip.'_

"Now, Quick Attack into Mudkip!"

Vulpix's eyes gleam at finally being on the offensive. She lands from her dodge with Quick Attack still active, then in a flicker of red, crashes into Mudkip at full speed.

The mudfish's eyes go wide and he can't even cough the air from his lungs before he's thrown a solid fifty feet across the field. He bounces once, twice, then skids to a painful stop on his side, a shallow trench in his wake.

Lee can feel his heart stop as Vulpix tips her head back and howls in victory. The sunlight fades back to normal as the battle ends.

"Mudkip!" Brendan cries, rushing towards his motionless Pokemon.

' _Jesus Christ. What have I done?'_

Brendan skids to a stop by Mudkip's still body with slumped shoulders. Lee numbly follows, trying to not let his rolling stomach vomit. The younger trainer picks up the limp Mudkip with a sigh. "You did great, pal," he murmurs, holding Mudkip to his chest.

Then Mudkip suddenly twitches in Brendan's arms and lets out a groggy "M-Mudkip?". The water pokemon shifts in his trainers arms in a clear sign of life and looks around, blinking stars from his eyes.

Lee's stomach uncoils as quickly as it came and he lets out a breath he had no idea he was holding. "He's okay?"

' _They aren't common animals. You know that,'_ the niggling voice in the back of his head says. _'You can't permanently take down a pokemon without making a deliberate effort.'_

Brendan nods as he looks down at his pokemon. "Yeah," he replies in a more subdued voice. "I guess you were right. Vulpix is way too strong and you're too skilled," he says with a sigh. Brendan fishes out Mudkip's pokeball and enlarges it. He smiles down to his starter and says; "You did great Mudkip. You hung on where others would have crashed and burned. Enjoy your rest, okay?"

"Mudkip..." Mudkip murmurs, looking away with melancholy in his eyes before he's returned to his ball in a flash of red light.

Brendan clips the ball to his belt before standing and turning to Lee, then in a surprising show of maturity, holds out a hand with a smile. "Good match. Don't expect it to be that easy next time."

Lee takes the offered hand and shakes it weakly. "Yeah, sure. Anytime."

Vulpix takes time to slide up beside him, pressing herself into her trainer's leg as she looks up at him with worry.

Lee bends down and pulls her into a light hug, murmuring a congratulations for her victory.

' _Am I overthinking it? Am I treating them like animals? Are pokemon just that durable?'_

* * *

_Day 9_

' _Pokemon are stupid durable.'_

Mudkip catches Vulpix's Quick Attack to his side, and despite digging his feet in, is still rocketed off his feet. He twists mid-air and roughly lands on all fours almost sixty feet away from his lift-off point.

"Baby-Doll Eyes."

Mudkip tries to look away on impulse, but Vulpix's eyes light up with Fairy energy too quickly, and he lets out a frustrated cry when he feels his muscles slacken.

"Mudkip don't give up!" Brendan calls from his side. "Use Watergun! Quick!"

Mudkip takes a breath to build up Watergun, but before he can fire, Lee's voice calls out across the field with; "Confuse Ray!"

Vulpix's eyes light up again, this time an evil red, perfectly fitting the smirk on her muzzle.

The building Watergun in Mudkip's throat suddenly loses cohesion and just explodes out of his mouth as the confusion ensnares Mudkip's mind. The mudfish chokes and panics, forgetting his ilk can breathe water in his confusion.

Brendan growls and grabs at his hat in frustration. "Confuse Ray is such a bullshit move!" He yells to the heavens.

Across from him, Lee can only shrug. "Embrace the bullshit. It works."

Ever since their first match several days ago, Brendan and Mudkip would come out to challenge Lee and Vulpix whenever the younger duo would see a lull in the training of their seniors. Each day, Mudkip would be soundly defeated, and each following day, he would be right as rain. Brendan was unbothered by the losses and Mudkip, being a little glutton for punishment, gladly threw himself at Vulpix no matter how much he was brutalized the day prior. All of Lee's fears about either pokemon being hurt beyond help evaporated like a puddle on a hot day thanks to Mudkip.

The spread on Vulpix's ranged attacks closed by a fraction of a degree each day, and now her Ember could reliably hit objects her size at about fifty feet. The little fireballs raced a little faster and exploded a little harder with the repeated practice as well. Firespin, being the signature move of Vulpix, is already powerful, more powerful than the games give it credit for. For how aloof the little vixen usually is, she's taken to Lee's training with aplomb, and the results are already beginning to show.

Back to the battle, Mudkip barely has enough time to hack the water out of his lungs before Vulpix leaps into the air, coats herself in the shimmering aura of Quick Attack, then shoots down upon him like a meteor

**_CRASH!_ **

* * *

_Day 12_

Lee huffs and wipes the sweat from his brow as he focuses on his running pace around the corral. Vulpix has lapped him at least seven times, even with the convoluted, zig-zagging course of he's set up for her. He stops for a moment to watch his pokemon weave between spots he's marked into the ground with agility and grace that would make a mundane fox green with envy. She skids at a particularly harsh turn, but quickly corrects herself and is back in a full sprint in hardly a moment. As Vulpix runs, she pants short tongues of flame in an effort to cool off some. Then something strikes Lee as strange.

The flames aren't in sync with her breathing. The fire licking at her lips ebbs and surges independent of the movement of her chest. It's almost like it doesn't even correspond at all.

' _Wait, no. No way in hell. It's such a leap, but if it's true and this works...'_

"Hey love!" Lee calls, making Vulpix skid to a halt and look towards him. "Let's head inside for a short break. I've got a few things to look up, then we can keep training."

The vixen doesn't verbally reply, but walks to Lee's side as she tries to steady her breathing. Now up close, Lee can see for certain that the flames she's panting aren't matching up with her breaths at all.

Both man and vixen walk towards the lab at a sedate pace, letting Lee think's sure there must be a high level trainer out there somewhere that has already discovered this, but after recalling the Emerald dex entry on Vulpix, he has to try it.

...But how much can gamedex entries be trusted?

Lee lets out a relieved groan as he and Vulpix step into the air-conditioned lab. Vulpix fans her tails and does a full-body shake, airing out her orange pelt with the cool air.

"You look tired."

Professor Birch walks in to the lab's main room with a clipboard under one arm and a plastic bottle of water held in the other. The stocky man tosses the bottle to Lee, who snatches it out of the air.

"Running around during the heat of the day does that," Lee quips, unscrewing the bottle cap and kneeling so Vulpix could latch onto the bottle and greedily drink. "Mind if we use one of the PCs for a bit? We've got a bit of research to do."

"All yours," Birch smiles with a wave of his hand. "What about, may I ask?"

Vulpix chooses that time to let the bottle go, now looking very refreshed with a few water trails down her chin and into her breast tuft. "Vulpix!" she says with a smile, nuzzling Lee's hand.

Lee smiles and gently strokes his fox before tipping the bottle of water back into his own mouth, drinking the remaining half in just three mammoth gulps. "Phew. To answer you, Prof. There are some..." Lee hesitates, trying to think of a good descriptor other than 'gamedex' "...legends about pokemon from my 'home' that I wanted to fact check. If some regarding Vulpix and Ninetales are true, then Vulpix here is in for a treat, and any future battlers are in for a nasty surprise."

Birch instantly understands and smiles. "You can't just give me the bare minimum like that and not expect me to ask more," he replies, his smile widening into a grin. "Whats the 'legend' say about the Vulpix line?"

"That they can freely control fire, and how that's how they control Will-o-Wisp," Lee begins. Vulpix jumps to his shoulders as he stands and turns to Birch. "I noticed when Vulpix and I were out exercising that she was panting flames."

Birch crosses his arms and nods. "Yes, that's pretty standard with a lot of Fire types."

"Here's the 'but' to that," Lee says with a smirk. "The ebb of her fire was not synced up to her breathing. It was close, but there were distinct points where she was inhaling and the flames would grow, or exhaling and the flames would shrink, usually right at the end of her breaths. That's why I think the legend holds water."

Birch's eyes widen a fraction. "Truly? Could the breathing be just a placebo for Vulpix then? If she is able to actually manifest fire regardless of body movements to control it..."

"She could cast attacks with zero warning," Lee finishes with an excited grin. "But if she really can freely control fire like described, then she can control _any_ fire and manifest it from _anywhere_."

' _Fire attacks against her would be worse than useless. She could shoot attacks from any direction, or even manifest it right on her target with no travel time. Hell, with skills like that, no Fire move would be outside her reach. She might even be able to make_ _ **new**_ _moves.'_

The professor's jaw slowly drops, the implications are not lost on him. Vulpix likewise looks at Lee with wide eyes before looking away and furrowing her brows in thought.

"So I need to look up the mechanics behind some Fire moves and see if Vulpix can remotely manifest them. Something on the simple side to start..." Lee mutters out loud.

* * *

_Day 16_

"Don't force it, love. Rome wasn't built in a day."

Vulpix growls and closes her eyes as yet another tiny fireball fizzles out before it can leave her mouth. She leans her head back and opens her mouth as a tiny, flickering candlelight of fire is born between her lips. The little flame wavers as it shakily tries to hover away, but it flickers and dies in a flash hardly an inch into it's travel. Vulpix opens her eyes again and looks at the grassy ground with a smoldering glare that Lee didn't expect to see on her usually aloof self.

Lee sits off to her side with his notebook in hand, jotting everything he watches down. When he sees her staring a hole into the ground, he sets his notebook aside and scoots closer, tenderly placing a hand on either side of her head and lifting so their eyes meet. "Hey, no need to look so frustrated. This is a whole new thing we're trying here. Your moves seems so easy because they're instinct. This? This is totally unexplored territory that we're working with," the man quietly murmurs, petting his vixen's cheeks gently. Vulpix slowly melts into his touch as she listens. "You've already made incredible progress. Just making flames at will with no move being used first is great. Now we just have to practice. Lets take a breather to clear our heads for a moment, yeah?"

Vulpix sighs. "Vullll. Vulpix, vul." _"Four days of no progress is good?"_ He can practically hear, but she closes her eyes in contentment and nods into his hands.

' _She's so much more reasonable than a lion,'_ Lee thinks fondly as Vulpix crawls into his lap and nuzzles her head to his stomach with a smile. She opens her eyes to reveal them glowing. He then feels her fledgling psychic powers touch his mind for a moment, just long enough for a burst of raw gratitude. _'She lets me get away with so much.'_

Lee picks his notebook back up and looks over the corral with a smile. The gentle sea breeze from the south drives away the sun's oppressive heat and makes the short grass of the corral roll in mesmerizing waves. Pokemon of all sorts lounge and play in the field, and an uncountable number more watch and rest in the shade of the forest where the corral fence vanishes into the treeline. The breeze, the rustling of the distant leaves, and the happy calls of all the pokemon mingle into a tranquil background noise There's not an ounce of conflict to be found.

' _How strange it is to think any one of these adorable things could rip me in half,'_ Lee muses, idly stroking Vulpix's back all the way down to her tails. He notices a black spot on the edge of his vision and looks over.

In the grass just in front of the depression where Vulpix was seated previously, there's a small burnt spot. The grass is limp and blackened, but not ash, like it was only exposed to a flame for a moment.

' _But Vulpix didn't let any of her flames touch the ground. Hell, she hasn't even faced the ground in the last two hours besides...'_ Lee furrows a brow. _'Besides when she got frustrated and glared at the ground.'_ He stops petting the vixen as he thinks, making her whine and paw at him.

"Are we going about this the wrong way?" the man thinks aloud, making Vulpix open her eyes and look up at him. "Vulpix, lets try something else. We might be doing this wrong."

The vixen reluctantly extracts herself from his lap with a full-body stretch and a jaw-cracking yawn. "Pix..." she murmurs, standing ready.

"Alright, lets try this," Lee begins, opening his notebook and ripping a page out. Vulpix looks on with a raised brow as he holds the paper up. "Now, no more meditation or all that jazz that Medicham suggested on this. I want you to focus on this paper as hard as you can. Focus on seeing it go up in flames. All you want in the world is for this paper to burn because it's wronged you, so you give it more focus than anything in the world has ever gotten."

Vulpix gives Lee a dubious look, but focuses on the paper intently. She narrows her chocolate eyes and flicks her tails in concentration.

Several long minutes pass with nothing happening. The only movement is from the rolling grass and the swap of the paper in the wind. Lee's arm begins to grow tired, and his cross-leg seated position makes his legs fall asleep, but he dares not move least he spoil Vulpix's concentration. Vulpix begins to grit her teeth, her frustration beginning to surface again.

Slowly, the middle of the white paper begins to darken and smoke, and the sun's rays grow a little hotter.

Lee looks between his almost-snarling pokemon and the sheet of paper in his hand. "You want the paper on fire more than anything, Vulpix," he whispers just loud enough to make her twitch an ear. "It wrongs you, mocks you by existing. Take your feelings and show it who you are. You are Vulpix, the one who will one day be the strongest Fire type-no, the one who will one day be the _strongest pokemon_. Take all that passion to grow and succeed, and show everyone you have what it takes to _master_ fire!"

Vulpix growls and her eyes glow faintly. The sunlight becomes so hot that Lee's burns tingle in pain.

The paper bursts into flame, making Lee yelp and drop it.

For a moment, both trainer and Pokemon stare at the paper in open surprise. When it burns down to naught but ash and blows away in the wind, Lee can't help but grin and snatch up Vulpix in a hug.

"You did it! You actually did it!" Lee says with a joyful laugh and a beaming grin. "I know you could do it. You have no idea how proud I am of you! We've been here for like, what, two weeks and we're already pushing limits and breaking rules? You're the best, love."

Vulpix can't help but smile herself and wag her six tails as she sinks into her trainer's arms. She gives him a lick on the chin and nuzzles into the crook of his neck.

Again, Lee feels Vulpix poke his mind with hers, and this time comes a pulse of raw adoration.

He hugs her just a little tighter.

* * *

_Day 18_

Lee peers at the new scars on his side and drops the unwrapped gauze to the bathroom floor. The glass cuts had healed nicely and evenly courtesy of the Oran extract infused gauze, but the largest ones still scarred over, giving him a new set of tender pink lines in his side. He touches one with a grumble, noting the lack of pain. He looks further up in the bathroom mirror to his face.

The trio of linear burns are mostly healed, again thanks to Oran infused ointment, but they are definitely leaving scars. The skin on the left side of his face feels pinched and taut, and just smiling pulls at the lines. A childish part of him thinks the scars look fearsome, but that part is quickly beaten into submission by the more practical part of his mind. While not too painful, they're definitely uncomfortable.

Definitely not as painful as losing the Zoo and everyone there.

Vulpix suddenly appears in the mirror as she hops to her favorite perch and settles cross Lee's bare shoulders. She looks over herself only briefly in the mirror before turning her attention to Lee's visage. Her eyes wander over his front, her eyes stopping at the few scars and marks adorning his front. She then looks back up this face.

"Ugly, aren't they?" Lee sardonically asks.

Vulpix twists her head and quickly nips Lee's ear, making the man suppress a yelp. Then she presses her cheek to his and purrs.

Lee sighs and reaches up to rub behind her ear, a half-smile that doesn't pull at the scars forming on his face. "Can't you let me have just a little self-pity?"

The vixen snaps her teeth, then goes back to purring.

Lee sighs dramatically. "Fiiiiine. Let me get breakfast for us whipped up then we can head out and get some supplies for your pyrokinesis practice."

"Vulpix!"

* * *

_Now - Day 22_

Lee's thoughts return to the present as he and Vulpix approach the lab... which is clear on the other side of town from the library, making Lee blink. "Oh jeez, have I been spacing out that whole time?"

"Vul," Vulpix affirms, nosing his cheek from her usual spot on his shoulder. "Vulpix vul."

He sighs. "Yeah I know. Sorry about that, love. The last few weeks have been something else. I guess I'm still a little out of sorts."

Vulpix says nothing, but curls around his neck like a furry scarf.

"Lee!"

Lee turns with Vulpix in tow to find both Brendan walking their way with a wave. "Heading to the lab?" Brendan asks, no breaking his strike as he walks up.

"MmmHmm," Lee replies, falling into step with the boy.

"So what have you guys been up to all day? Myself and Mudkip were out in the woods doing that strength training you told us about," Brendan grins. "I never knew Mudkips could _actually smash_ _boulders!_ When he gets to Swampert, he's gonna be unstoppable!"

The ball on Brendan's belt shakes.

"You'll need to beat Vulpix first if you actually want to be unstoppable," Lee quips, taking the wind right out of Brendan's sails and making Mudkip's ball go still.

"Easier said than done..." the young Birch grumbles. "Vulpix is freaky strong, and how does anyone fight you without getting Confuse Ray spammed to death?"

' _Vulpix just learned Feint Attack last week, so she can only be mid-20s in level. I guess that would be tough to a definitely-below level 16 pokemon. Though, Mudkip has to be on the cusp of evolution. He's grown so much since his first ass kicking and just begs for more. Little masochist.'_ Lee muses. "Look on the bright side," Lee starts with a smirk. "Mudkip can snap himself out of confusion in seconds now."

"That doesn't really matter when you and Vulpix spam Confuse Ray so much."

"It'll matter against other trainers," Lee says as the pair enter the cool, air-conditioned lab and spy Professor Birch on the video phone in the corner. "Imagine the shock on some random trainer's face when Mudkip barely stumbles after being confused and knocks his pokemon into the stratosphere."

 _That_ makes Brendan grin and makes Mudkip's ball shake again.

"-tually, both just walked in now, Samuel," Birch says as Brendan and Lee approach. Birch turns and waves both over with a wide smile. "Brendan, Lee, I'd like you both to meet Professor Samuel Oak, _The_ Pokemon Professor!"

Birch moves to the side to show both of his trainers the screen of the vid-phone, and on it is none other than the legendary Professor Oak, who peers at both of them with aged, wisdom filled eyes.

Lee has to struggle not to smile at the man he's always wanted to meet, but Brendan has no reservations and openly grins. "Nice to meet ya, Professor! I'm Brendan Birch, and this is Lee Henson! Don't be too upset if we thrash any of your trainers in the Ever Grande Conference!"

Birch chokes and blanches. "Brendan! I-" he stops when he hears laughing from the phone.

Oak chuckles a few more times and calms, but his smile remains, showing the lines on his aged face from how often he must smile. "My oh my. It's not often I see such bold enthusiasm," he says. "Well, I'd certainly not hold a grudge over a proper victory. Tell me young man. Who did you choose as your starter?"

"Mudkip of course!"

Oak nods with a hum. "A sturdy, powerful pokemon. As your Mudkip grows, you'll likely find him to be a pillar of strength for your whole team. An anchor that would never let you be swept away, and a frightful tsunami in battle. Swampert are revered and feared for their sheer might. An excellent choice, young Brendan," Oak says, his words carrying impeccable strength and certainty even over the phone.

Brendan flushes and mutters a quick, "Thank you, sir."

Oak then turns his attention to Lee with a raised brow. "Well well, Mr Henson. You look quite seasoned already. Why take a sponsorship?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was born on a small island nation with no pokemon?" Lee lies through his teeth, spooling up his story. "We had legends, but I didn't know pokemon were real until about a month ago."

Oak's eyes widen a fraction and his smile dims somewhat. "Truly? What was this place called?"

"The United States, a series of small states under one controlling body. I ended up on Hoenn after... Unfortunate circumstances," Lee grimaces, his burn scars flaring with phantom pain. He tenderly rubs the raised skin and continues. "Vulpix, being a sweetheart, found me and stuck with me. We came here to Little Root and met Professor Birch, who was kind enough to stick his neck out for us. The rest is history I guess," he finishes, reaching up to stroke Vulpix's neck.

Oak peers at both Lee and Vulpix with great scrutiny, making both man and vixen tense up from the intense, almost judging stare, then Oak returns to his grandfatherly smile just as quickly. "That's quite a tale. I have to say, would your home be open to communication?"

"They're pretty militaristic and isolationist..." Lee trails off. "Now that I'm out, I can't return. Not that I know where the US is from here anyway."

The smile on Oak's face falls some. "That's a shame. I would have loved to have a trainer like yourself. A trainer with a fresh new look at pokemon? Oh yes, now that would make for a fascinating study. I assume Professor Birch added such a study as a stipulation to your sponsorship?"

Birch freezes up.

"Oh Nigel, don't look like that," Oak gently chides with a shake of his head, making Birch slump. "Any pokemon researcher worth their salt would want to secure such an opportunity. I certainly can't blame you." Oak turns back to Lee, now looking at Vulpix. "Vulpix, hmm? A rare pokemon, even in their native Kanto. Revered as tricksters and mystics, Vulpix and the venerated Ninetales are difficult to raise pokemon who thrive under skilled trainers. Her excellent health and demeanor speaks volumes about your ability to raise pokemon, young man."

"That's just good genes on her part," Lee asserts with a shake of his head. Vulpix harshly jabs his cheek with her nose, but he ignores it. "I don't do much. Just what needs to be done." Vulpix jabs him again.

Oak raises a brow, his smile deepening some. "Vulpix are finicky as they are rare, so that loyalty of her does you no favors here. Just your willingness to hold a dangerous pokemon so close says a lot."

"..." Lee says nothing in reply, so Vulpix growls and paws him right in the eye. "Ow! Dammit love, don't do that!"

Oak laughs and turns back to Birch. "Anyway Nigel, one of my trainers, Ash Ketchum, just finished up his final preparations for his journey to Hoenn after the Silver Conference. Could you update his Pokedex once he arrives? He should be in Little Root in the next week."

' _So it's some sort of mix between the games and anime here,'_ Lee thinks to himself, rubbing the smarting eye Vulpix bapped. _'Why the League website didn't have the Silver Conference results I have no idea, but at least I know now.'_

"Of course Samuel," Birch says, visibly relieved his senior didn't hold tying Lee down against him.

Oak smiles at everyone. "Nigel, it was nice to speak to you again. You're doing wonderful despite your short tenure so far," he says, making his junior smile. "Brendan, Lee, I'll be looking forward to seeing you both in the Ever Grande Conference and how well you stack up against my trainer, Ash. Have a wonderful day everyone!"

And with that, Oak hangs up.

Lee hums as Vulpix settles again.

' _This is where it all starts I guess.'_


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One timeline dies, and another is born.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> Lemme torture you with more hot garbage.

* * *

_ Day 30 _

Lee hums a nameless tune as he gently drags a soft brush through Vulpix's pelt, and the little fox is little more than a blissful puddle under his gentle ministrations. The man stops for just a moment to pull some loose fur from the brush and place it in the small pile to his side before he gets back to brushing. Lee yawns and glances up at the sun from their shady spot in the lab's shadow.

"Must be about ten AM now..." He murmurs, getting no reply from his dozing pokemon. "Were we doing something today? I forget."

Vulpix purrs a short note, but otherwise doesn't answer.

As Lee holds a tail in a gentle grip to brush, his mind starts to wander.

' _How are things going to play out?'_ He wonders with a frown. _'Will things run like they did in the anime? The games? Maybe some mishmash of both? Have I already caused irreversible harm to the timeline just by being here? Should I even rely on meta knowledge?'_ He moves to another tail and starts brushing idly. _'Maybe not. Thats a convenient, but perilous route to take. The instant something plays out in a way I don't expect or we stumble on something I forgot, then things could get hairy. Plus, all of that relies on us traveling with Ash and his friends, and considering all the insane shit that follows him around, our lifespans would probably be much longer on our own.'_ He thinks with grimace. ' _Oak said that Ash would be here in about a week's time. It's been eight days so far and nothing. Should we just start off on our own?'_

"What do you think, love?" Lee softly asks.

The thin psychic channel between him and Vulpix widens just enough for her to convey a sense of patience and contentment. No real words, not yet, but her meaning is clear.

Lee hums and scratches just at the base of her middle-most tail, making Vulpix wiggle in pleasure. _'The pointers from Medicham really worked well, didn't they?'_

The vixen replies with a sleepy, verbal, "Vulpiiiix." She then turns over in Lee's lap, presenting her belly for brushing.

Lee just smiles and readies the soft-bristled brush in his hand. _'To think I hesitated over this and would have outright said no a month ago. I don't know why more trainers don't use psychic communication... Or maybe they do? Hrm. More things to research and consider.'_ He starts brushing to soft belly before him when Vulpix's impatience begins to leak over the psychic channel. _'You really make things too easy for me, love. I'm going to lose my edge if you keep spoiling me.'_

Vulpix just chuffs and leans her head back, eyes closed.

The man and pokemon sit together in the shade, basking in each other's company and enjoying the cool breeze carrying the smell of grass and the tang of salty sea air. The pair ignore the sound of squealing tires out front, already knowing Birch's reckless driving habits. A door slams, then it's quiet again.

Then an explosion rocks the lab with the ring of shattering glass.

**Sirens screaming.**

**Ground rumbling.**

**Stench of ash.**

**Flash of light.**

**Storm of glass.**

**Burning.**

**Burning!**

**BURNING!**

**LUNGS BLISTER.**

**FLESH COOKS.**

**PAIN!**

**MAKE IT STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP!**

**I WANT TO DIE**

A stabbing pain in his hand shocks Lee back into the real world. He barely has enough to register the pain before he falls to his hands and knees, his breakfast vomiting from his rolling stomach and onto the grass with a chunk-filled splatter. The man tries to blink the tears from his eyes and stand, but falls to his side and coughs weakly. The lingering acid in his throat burns and forces him to breathe in painful sputters. Bright stars dance in his watery eyes and his ears ring with a terrible din, but when something warm, furry, and _comforting_ presses itself to his chest, he hugs it tightly. The feeling of someone there with him, letting him _feel_ , confirming that he's _alive_ fills Lee's eyes with a fresh wave of tears.

He's not sure how long he sits there, on his side and stewing in his relief and shuttering when the scars on his face pulse with phantom pain, but he blinks when something _touches his mind_.

' _Wait. Vulpix?'_

Lee wipes his eyes and filth-smeared mouth on his sleeve with grimace and sits up, opening up his mind to the psychic poke.

All his thoughts are drowned out by a frantic wave terror and relief not his own so intense that Lee almost jumps. He looks down to his lap to see his shaking vixen hugged to his middle. She looks up to him and Lee's heart drops.

Her chocolate eyes are wide and filled with tears, some of them escaping and running down her cheeks to be caught and absorbed by her fur. Her teeth are gritted in a canine parody of a grimace and a wounded whine that stabs at his heart comes from her throat. She presses her head to his stomach and her whines grow in volume.

' _I had to let her back in, so I shut her out before she felt or even saw too much, right?'_ Lee hopes to himself as he hugs Vulix a little tighter and curls around her. He gulps and turns his thoughts outward to her. _'Vulpix? Love? Are you okay?'_

Vulpix looks hit him, her clenched jaw slackening as her disbelief bleeds over the psychic channel. She then lets out a shaky sigh and nods her head.

"You certain?" Lee continues verbally, stroking her gently across her back. "I didn't mean for you to see any of that. I'm sorry for putting you through that," he murmurs, bowing his head enough to rest on hers.

Exasperation leaks across the link, and Vulpix nods into his chest again.

"If you're certain..." he sighs, looking at the mark on his hand where Vulpix bit him. The skin is red, but not broken despite how her teeth could have easily sheared through flesh and bone. "Now, lets go see what the fuck just happened."

Man and fox untangle themselves and stand, with Lee needing to fight off a sudden bout of exhaustion. He stands for a moment, vertigo threatening to take hold before he takes a deep breath and forces it down. The pair circle around the front of the lab just in time to see a young brunette girl in red pedal away down the lab trail on a bike.

' _May Maple?'_

"Hey wait!" one of the lab aides, a green-haired man (Joshua, Lee dully remembers) calls after the girl.

"Sorry!" she calls over her shoulder. "I've never been good at waiting!"

Joshua slumps with a sigh as the girl disappears in the distance. Then he looks up and spies Lee and Vulpix. "Oh. Lee!"

"Joshua," Lee nods back. "What happened? And what was that explosion?"

The young aide sighs again and adjusts his glasses. "Professor Birch brought this young trainer, Ash to the lab to treat his Pikachu, who was suffering from electric overcharge-"

' _Wait. This is it. This is the start of Pokemon Advanced.'_ Lee's sluggish brain finally connects the dots. _'The explosion was Pikachu overloading that... that... whatever that very specific electric-draining machine was.'_

"-achu then ran away in his confusion," Joshua finishes. "The girl you ran off after them was May Maple, Gym Leader Norman's daughter. We need to go after her!"

"By 'we' you mean Vulpix and I, right?" Lee asks dryly, fingering one of the shoulder straps of his bag.

Joshua has the decency to blush and look away. "My pokemon aren't really the battling type... But either way, if something happens to May on our watch, then the whole lab could be in hot water. Since you're one of the lab's trainers, can you..?"

Lee looks down to Vulpix, who just rolls her eyes and nods.

"Alrighty, looks like we have to play hero," Lee grumbles. "Stay put, Josh. And tell Brendan not to come running after us, okay?"

"Got it," Joshua says with a nod. "Good luck."

Both Lee and Vulpix turn and take off down the forest trail May rode down.

* * *

Lee's feet pound heavily on the ground in sharp contrast to the feather line steps of the vixen beside him. The man huffs and tries to keep his breath steady as he runs, but can already feel an ache forming in his legs that is only going to be worse tomorrow. The feeling of lead in his limbs from his earlier... vivid memory only makes the experience worse.

' _At least the forest trail keeps us out of the sun,'_ He relays to Vulpix, pulling at the collar of his shirt with a finger. _'I can still feel sweat starting to soak my shirt though. Eck. Why couldn't we have been dropped in Sinnoh and their more agreeable temperature?'_

Vulpix looks up at him and gives him the mental equivalent of a shrug, her easy stride not faltering at all. A human's pace isn't much to her.

The trees begin to thin as the pair run, and the yowls and yips of angry canines and the fearful yelling of Birch becomes audible. Lee and Vulpix lock eyes for a moment before speeding up.

"Get a pokeball from my bag and chase off the Poochyena!" Birch's faint voice yells.

"In here?!" Returns the voice of a young girl.

The man and fox burst from the trail and skid to a stop right at a short, grassy cliff. Fifteen feet below, a trio of Poochyena bark and yap up a tree where Birch fearfully clutches a high branch. Just to their right, a panicking May digs in the brown field bag that Birch dropped before presumably falling down the cliff. May looks exactly as Lee expected. Her red attire, bandanna, distinctive hairstyle and all.

' _Lets hold back and see how this plays out. We'll step in if needed.'_ Lee thinks to Vulpix as he catches his breath.

"Vul..." Vulpix verbalizes her affirmative.

"Which one do I pick!?" May asks, looking between the three pokeballs in her hand with growing uncertainty.

"Any one! All of them are fine! Just throw the ball and call an attack!" Birch yells back.

"U-uh, okay," May palms one of the balls with a frown, letting the other two drop back into the bag. "Go pokeball!"

The pokeball is thrown up before splitting open with the _pop!_ only a pokeball can make, and in a flash of light, a Mudkip materializes in a flash of white light at May's side.

"Alright, a Mudkip!" Birch says with a cheer. "Now, call out one of his attacks!"

"Uhhh..." May draws a blank and looks around unsurely.

Birch sighs and shakes his head. "Just say _Use_ _Watergun_."

"Okay. Use Watergun?" May orders, her tone still uncertain.

The young Mudkip either senses her nervousness or totally misinterprets the order, because he opens his mouth, takes a breath, and douses May with a blast of water. The girl can only scream under the torrent of cold water.

Birch groans before finally taking notice of Lee and Vulpix with a relieved smile. "Lee! You're just in time! Some help please?!"

Lee steps forward as Mudkip stops blasting a now shivering May. He glances over to May who takes one look at his face and freezes. "Hey, stand back. Get into the sun and you'll dry out faster." He then turns inward as he glances down at the trio of angry Poochyena still circling the tree. _'Ready love?'_

Vulpix looks up at him, her eyes glinting as she settles into a low ready stance.

Lee looks down focusing intently on several spots just at the feet of the three angry Dark types, eagerness overpowering his tired mind. _'Ember!'_

Vulpix leaps into the air, her mouth open, and with hardly any charge time shoots a barrage of tiny fireballs down at the three Poochyena.

The pups perk their ears and turn just in time for the Embers to impact the ground at their feet, the exploding fireballs throwing all three onto their backs with frightened yelps.

Lee has to fight back a giddy grin.

A number of the Embers flew wide, but quite a few landed in the places he had Vulpix focus on, right at the feet of the Poochyena. He can strategize with Vulpix _at the speed of thought._

Vulpix's mind pokes at his with inquiry as she falls back down to the ground lightly.

' _You bet your cute ass we're going to abuse the fuck out of this.'_

The vixen chuffs and Lee doesn't even need to feel her mind to know she's amused.

By now the trio of frightened Poohyena have scrambled back to their paws and look up to Vulpix with equal parts fear and anger flashing in their red eyes. The middle Poohyena growls and looks at the pulverized ground where the Embers had detonated, his hackles slowly falling as he steps backwards. Vulpix growls and all three Poohyena turn tail and run, yelping and howling like hell was on their heels. The three trundle into the bushes and take off out of sight, leaving the forest silent sans the wind through the leaves.

Birch lets out a sigh of relief, but freezes when the branch he's on creaks before snapping, sending him to the ground with a painful "Oof!"

Lee winces and looks down the short drop-off. "You alright Professor?"

"I'm fine, just some bruised pride..." The man mutters. "What a day to leave Medicham at the lab. Thank you for the save, Lee!"

"Thank Vulpix, she did all the legwork for me," Lee says lightly before turning to May. "And you must be May Maple, right?"

The girl shrinks on herself as Lee addresses her, poking her pointer fingers together and looking at the ground. "Y-Yeah. Thats me."

"Lee is the name, and my lovely friend here is Vulpix," the scarred man introduces himself, then he dryly adds; "Try not to run towards danger next time please? If something happened to you then Norman would come down like a ton of bricks on the lab."

May flushes red and nods.

' _It's hard to believe she becomes an expert coordinator and a pretty good battler. Eh. Humble origins and all that.'_

Lee turns to Birch after letting Vulpix hop to his shoulder. "So, what are we doin-!" He's cut off when a massive bolt of lighting cleaves through the sky in the distance with the sky-rocking crackle, rousing countless bird pokemon from the trees with a medley of trills and cries.

Birch and May flinch at the sound. Vulpix folds her ears, but Lee blinks and feels cold sweat slowly break out on his brow.

' _The hell was that? Did a Zapdos or something wander into Hoenn?'_

Another surge of unearthly electricity shoots up into the sky and lights up the forest, this time with a rumble of ominous thunder that reverberates in Lee's tightening chest. ' _That's not Ash's Pikachu is it? The electricity was red, so...'_ Lee's eyes widen when he remembers the details of Pokemon Advance's start. _'The red lightning. That_ _ **is**_ _Ash's Pikachu! And we're going towards that?!'_

He looks back towards May and Birch, and the professor clears his throat to explain. "Anyway, Lee. I was out here trying to help Ash Ketchum find his Pikachu. The Pikachu in question is suffering from electrical overload and is feverish, so he ran off. One guess where Pikachu is..." Birch trails off, looking at yet another titanic bolt of red lighting that shakes the forest with it's thunder.

Lee groans. "Great, let's all wander right towards an angry and confused Pikachu. This can't end badly."

Birch falls in step beside Lee as he begins running with May trailing a little behind on her bike. "No need to be so pessimistic. I'm sure we can handle Pikachu."

Another bolt cracks the sky with a tooth rattling _crackboom!_

"You mean Vulpix will have to handle Pikachu," Lee huffs, flinching as the lightning only gets louder the closer they get. "If Medicham is at the lab and all you have are the three starters, then Vulpix will have to fight that little monster. I'm not keen on throwing my best friend into the grinder like that."

He can see Vulpix frown from the corner is his eye as she pokes his mind with a trickle of annoyance.

"Is this Pikachu really that strong?" May asks, worry coloring her tone.

"Didn't this Ash kid do pretty well in both Indigo and Silver, professor?" Lee asks like he doesn't already know.

Birch nods. "Ash did remarkably well in both despite his young age, and his Pikachu was a key player in both."

"So pretty strong, yeah," Lee says back to May. The girl gulps and falters slightly in her pedaling.

The men, girl, and pokemon get closer to the electrical blasts cutting through the quiet of the forest, each blast more unnerving and ear-battering than the last. During the last hundred or so feet away, the electric charge in the air makes the whole group's skin tingle, and makes Vulpix's carefully groomed fur stand on end, much to her chagrin. The biggest lighting bolt yet makes Birch and Lee shield their eyes, Vulpix turn away, and May stifle a scream.

The four cut through a finale copse of trees into a small cliff-side clearing just in time to see a young boy, Ash, struggle to his feet with gritted teeth, electricity still arcing between his shaking limbs before it finally disperses. "P-Pikachu..."

Pikachu stirs from his place on the ground with a delirious "P-Pika..." and stands on all fours, his red cheeks sparking. The electric rodent then sprints full tilt away, moving like the wind despite his impairment.

And because of said impairment, Pikachu takes no notice of the cliff he's hurtling towards.

Ash's eyes widen in abject terror. "Pikachu!" He cries, sprinting towards his pokemon.

' _Shit! Vulpix!'_

"Vul!"

The vixen leaps high into the air from Lee's shoulder, flames licking the edges of her mouth. She takes a deep breath and fires a stream of screaming Embers right in Pikachu's path, cutting him off.

Pikachu's ears twitch and he stops almost a dozen feet short of the Ember's impact point, cheeks sparking ominously with red electricity. "Piiiikaaaa..." He opens one blurry eye and locks into Vulpix.

' _Quick Attack down now!'_ Lee frantically orders.

"Chuuuuu!"

Vulpix glows white and shoots down toward the ground as little more than a blur. Even with the mental order being infinitely faster for Lee to issue and for Vupix to process than a verbal one, Vulpix dodges the Thunderbolt with only inches to spare.

' _Jesus fuck there was almost no charge time to that! And while much slower than actual lightning, Pikachu's electric attacks are still stupid fast.'_ Lee thinks, feeling a cold bead of sweat run down his face.

Vulpix lands on the ground roughly, but on her paws, taking a defensive stance before Lee, Birch, and May as Pikachu keeps sparking with a bleary-eyed glare.

"Pikachu!"

Ash rushes between them and Pikachu before snagging up the yellow mouse and hugging him tightly. "Pikachu it's okay! It's me! No one's gonna hurt you!"

Pikachu struggles and sparks the entire time, before finally biting down on Ash's forearm.

"Ahhhh!" Ash cries out, gritting his teeth as Pikachu's teeth sink into his arm, drawing several thin lines of blood.

Lee looks over to Birch, who looks terse, but is content to watch for now. May, meanwhile, just watches with her hand covering her mouth and her eyes open wide.

Slowly, Pikachu blinks and clarity seems to return to him. He releases Ash's arm then runs his tongue over his bloody teeth with growing alarm. When he looks down at Ash's bleeding arm, Pikachu squeaks out a sorrowful. "Pikapi!"

Ash just smiles like the pain isn't bothering him. "It's alright, Pikachu. I know you didn't mean it. I'm just glad you're feeling better."

Pikachu's face is still picture perfect remorse. "Pika..." He says, licking Ash's wound to stem the slow trickle of blood.

Lee can't help but smile at the scene, as do Birch and May. _'Say, why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?'_

_**Thud!** _

Vulpix hops back up to his shoulder and paws his cheek.

' _Ah, them...'_

"Prepare for... Prepare for... Oh, what's the point?"

Everyone turns and steps back in shock when twenty-five foot tall, red-painted robot that looks like a battery on legs stomps into the small clearing. Standing on top of it are none other than Jesse, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket, all three already in a flamboyant pose.

' _And I already hate all of them,'_ Lee scowls, feeling his brow twitch. The instant that James opens his mouth, Lee tunes them out and turns his attention to Vulpix. _'Love, be ready to jump into action. This should play out as I expect it, but if it doesn't...'_

Vulpix purrs an affirmative.

Lee turns his attention back outwards just in time to see the trio of criminals hop down the hatch to the robot's interior. A speaker on the outside crackles, then Meowth's voice comes from it to explain the ridiculous robot. "Old Meowth has whipped up a good one this time! No matter how much Pika power yous output, our battery will take it all and juice our big bad bot up!"

"Who... are these guys?" Birch asks, looking totally lost.

"Team Rocket!" Ash growls, holding his glaring Pikachu close. "They're a bunch of thieves who keep trying to steal Pikachu."

"I think the things an organization like Rocket do is more terrorism than just common theft." Lee sneers.

"Hey scarface!" Meowth calls from the grainy speaker, prompting Lee to scowl and Vulpix growl. "We ain't that bad! We just want Pikachu! Here we go!"

A porthole opens on the from of the bot, then a thin mechanical arm tipped with a grabbing claw shoots out and snatches the shocked Pikachu right from an equally shocked Ash. The main arms of the robot pivot around to point at the struggling Pikachu, and what looks like suction cups on thin metal rods extend from the arms to latch on to Pikachu's sparking cheeks.

The three laugh over the speaker. "Draining away!" James calls with the sound of a lever being pulled.

Pikachu lets out a strangled cry when the massive robot begins draining the red-tinged electricity from him, sending crackling arcs all over the clearing and making everyone shield their eyes from the light. Team Rocket can only laugh as a charge meter on the front of the robot rises near the top. "Once you're out of Pika power, catching you will be a cinch!" Jesse laughs haughtily.

The meter on the robot hits full just as the red electricity peters out, leaving Pikachu looking much more alert and less stressed than before. The yellow rodent blinks then smiles evilly at the Rocketbot. "Piiiiikaaa..." He clenches his tiny fists and sparks with his usual yellow lightning "Chuuuu!"

The robot lights up like a christmas tree hooked directly up to a powerplant, electricity arcing everywhere as smoke starts to pour out the cracks.

"The robot must have drained Pikachu of his overcharge!" Birch says over the crackling as he shields his head with his arms. "He's back to normal!"

"Cool shit! Now let's hope he doesn't fry us!" Lee yells, grabbing his squirming vixen and turning to shield her.

One stray bolt lances right towards the tree where May's bike is leaned up, crashing into the bike with a frightful _ZAP!_ Despite how the rubber tires should have grounded the bike against electricity, the bike is reduced to a partially slagged heap of metal.

May lets out a wounded scream and holds her head as she looks at her wrecked bike. "My bike! My dad is going to kill me!"

Ash groans and facepalms. "Not this again..." he mutters, tipping his hat down and looking away.

Pikachu lets a last powerful cry rip from his throat and totally overloads the robot, electricity dancing off every inch and finally reaching the screaming trio of criminals inside.

Even if he's expecting it, Lee still grimaces and hugs the now unmoving Vulpix tight when the robot explodes. The sound and battering pressure wave makes Lee's stomach roll, but Vulpix is quick to gently grasp his mind with her own as a pleasant distraction.

"Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off agaaaaaaaaain!" The three criminals cry as they're flung away into the distance with impossible speed.

' _Like actually impossible. They should be flying mach 1 at least. And how does the landing not kill them?'_ Lee shakes his head.

Pikachu stands in a defiant stance until Team Rocket vanishes over the horizon, then the little rodent sways on his feet with an ill "Piiikaaaa..." before falling to his stomach, eyes closed.

"Pikachu!" Ash cries, running forward and gently lifting his pokemon.

* * *

Back in the lab after a lengthy walk and a short talk with the local Officer Jenny about Rocket, Lee leans heavily against the wall of the exam room Birch dragged Ash and Pikachu into as he gives the little electric mouse a short physical. Vulpix sits at Lee's feet with her eyes closed, seemingly dozing, but her twitching ears tell a different story.

"I'm no Nurse Joy, but I'd say that's a clean bill of health!"

Birch gives the sleeping Pikachu on the table a final lookover with a smile of his own. "All the overcharge is good and gone. Pikachu should be right as rain tomorrow. I guess those crooks were good for something after all."

"For once," Ash adds-on glibly. "Thanks for everything professor!"

Birch waves away the thanks. "It's not a problem at all, Ash. I'm glad to help. It's what a pokemon professor is for."

Ash smiles at the man as Pikachu slowly blinks his eyes open before going back to sleep. The young trainer then turns to Lee. "Lee, right?" He asks, holding out his hand for a shake. "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet. Thanks for having your Vulpix head off Pikachu. If he fell off that cliff, I have no idea what I would have done," the boy says with a shiver at the memory.

Lee steps off the wall to take Ash's hand and give it a shake. "Lee Henson, and it's not a problem," Lee says absently. _'If someone told me a month ago I'd take a nuke to the face then be shaking hands with Ash Ketchum I would have called the nut house.'_

"Yaahh!"

Everyone in the room turns sharply to the door, just in time to see May step inside and fumble with a vase by the doorway that she almost knocks over. She catches the vase in the nick of time and puts it back. "Uhhh..." she starts with a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that. I don't think I ever introduced myself. My name is May Maple."

Ash smiles at her. "I'm Ash Ketchum."

May glances up at Lee for a scant moment before looking away and nervously swaying in place. It takes him a second to realize she wants his name as well. "Lee Henson. It's a pleasure, May."

The girl brightens up before turning to Pikachu, her smiling falling some. "Will Pikachu be okay?"

"Should be fine in the morning according to the Professor," Ash says with a nod. "Nothing can keep Pikachu down for long."

"Pikachu certainly seems like the resilient sort," Birch quips with a smile. He then turns to May. "Sorry for all the delays, May. Are you ready to pick your first pokemon?"

Ash turns to the professor and May, a sudden gleam in his eye. "First pokemon?"

Birch walks over to the coat rack where he hung up his bag upon returning and pulls out three shiny, new pokeballs. He palms one whole the other two stay shrunken in his other hand. "Okay, first up..."

With a pop and flash of light, a Treecko takes form in the center of the room. The little lizard opens his yellow eyes and crosses his arms, taking in everyone coolly. "Treecko?"

"Oh wow!" Ash says with a grin. He bends down to Treecko's level and the pokemon looks him over with a raised brow. "What type is he?"

"Grass," Lee chimes in, finally fighting away his exhaustion and stepping up to the group with Vulpix on his heels. He stands next to Ash and observes Treecko, who does the same to Lee in return. The Grass lizard's small scales are all uniform and shiny, like he just underwent a molt. His yellow eyes are clear and alert. Lee tries to recall other indicators of reptile health, but gives up. "The Treecko line is mono Grass all through its evolutionary chain," Lee says, rubbing his burns when he sees Treecko's eyes linger on them.

Treecko finally turns his attention to May with an aloof upturn of his lips. The girl shivers and steps back. "He's kinda creepy..."

Treecko's shoulders slump just the slightest amount.

"He's not creepy. I think he's really cool!" Ash chimes in, restoring Treecko's bruised pride.

Birch rubs his chin. "If not Treecko, then how about Mudkip?"

In another burst of light, the young mudfish from earlier appears at May's feet with a blink of his beady eyes. He looks up to May and grumbles deep in his throat.

"This is the same one who wouldn't listen from earlier..." May grumbles right back.

Mudkip looks up at the girl with narrow, irritated eyes, seemingly debating with himself. Then without warning, he unleashes a short Water Gun right at May again, making the girl squeal as the cold water batters her. Both Birch and Ash cringe some and step back as to not be hit with stray drops.

Lee shakes his head. _'The little guy obviously doesn't like the disrespect. I know May becomes a great trainer later, but is this really how she starts?'_ He pauses. _'Ash got electrocuted by Pikachu more times that I can recall when he started, and he becomes world-class. Maybe I'm being too harsh.'_

May shakes the water from her clothing as best she can with a sigh. "Not that one either..."

Picking up the final pokeball, Birch eyes May with no small amount of concern. "Okay, this is the last one. If there are no takers here, then you have to wait until the next batch, May."

May just screws her eyes shut and crosses her fingers.

The pokeball in Birch's hand snaps open and white energy surges out, coalescing into a small, orange chick next to Mudkip.

"This is Torchic, a fire type," Birch explains as the now named Torchic looks up at May and steps closer with the quiet _tip-tap_ of talons on linoleum floor. Torchic and May only hold their shared look for a moment before Torchic fluffs himself up and rubs against May's legs with a content "Torchic!"

For the first time, May's face slowly lights up. "Oh wow..." She reaches down to pet the little chick on his soft, downy head, and Torchic gladly leans into her touch. "I think I know which one I want," she says, a growing smile on her face.

Treecko turns his nose up slightly and Mudkip sighs in relief before both are returned to their balls.

Birch replaces both pokeballs into his lab bag and wipes the sweat from his forehead. He then turns to May with a smile and hands her Torchic's ball. The girl takes the ball and looks up to the professor. "Alrighty, May. Come with me to my office. We have a few final things to fill out then I can give you your Pokedex. Lee, Ash," The man turns to the pair of trainers. "Feel free to rest up. Today has been really eventful."

"Will do Professor. Thank you!" Ash says with a grin. Lee just sighs and nods, trying hard to fight of the weariness of the day.

' _And to think it's hardly even the afternoon yet,'_ Lee mentally grumbles to Vulpix, who just presses herself to his legs.

Birch leaves the room with the still starstruck May and Torchic in tow.

Lee stumbles over to a chair by the corner of the exam room and sits heavily into it, his limbs feeling like lead. He leans his head back, just barely noticing Vulpix hopping into his lap.

' _Yeah, a nap sounds nice.'_

He lays a hand across Vulpix's back, and a scant moment later, sleep takes him.

* * *

"Hey Lee. Lee!"

Lee cracks a bleary eye open with a growl. In his lap, Vulpix stirs. He deftly catches the hand reaching for his face. "What do you want, Brendan?"

Brendan snatches his hand back and crosses his arms. "You've been conked out for like four hours. Dad ordered some takeout for everyone, so you better come get some before that Ash kid eats it all," he grumbles.

Lee debates just going back to sleep, not feeling particularly hungry, but a mental poke from Vulpix tells him that she's not of the same opinion.

He sighs and begins to stand as the now awake vixon in his lap hops down to the floor. "Sure, thanks Brendan." He says, taking stock of the room. Pikachu is gone from the exam table where he was rested, so he must be with Ash. Everything else is unchanged.

The boy brightens up instantly. "No problem. Also, why didn't you call me when that whole thing with the terrorists earlier was going down? I could have helped!"

Lee shakes his head follows after Brendan. "You're twelve, kiddo. You shouldn't even know what terrorism is, so there was no way in hell I was letting you get involved." Then as an afterthought, he adds; "I shouldn't have gotten involved either. Nor should have Ash, May, or the professor. That was stupid of **all** of us. We should have called the police and let them deal with it, as is their job."

Brendan stops mid-step and looks back to Lee, his face screwed up in disbelief like Lee had just sprouted a 2nd head. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how trying to do the work of law enforcement is asking for trouble," Lee says with a raised eyebrow, stopping with Brendan. "Are you of another opinion?"

"Yeah..?" Brendan says slowly, an unspoken 'duh' punctuating his answer. "Lab sponsored trainers are League first responders when the cops aren't around. Same with gym leaders, elite trainers, other League officials, the Champ, and all that. You know?"

' _What?'_

Brendan nods, and Lee curses inwardly when he realizes he spoke aloud again. "Yeah. Did you not go through the League guidelines and all that?"

"I'm... still slogging through it..." Lee admits with a frown. _'Love, remind me to finish that stupid book ASAP,'_ he sends to Vulpix, getting affirmative feeling and nod from the little fox. "So we're _obligated_ to run toward emergencies?"

Brendan starts walking to the lab's main room again with Lee and Vulpix following closely. The closer they get, the more they can hear the muted chatter of people. "We're not _obligated_ but... You know? You have to but no one is going to force you?"

Lee rubs his forehead with an open hand, feeling yet another headache coming on. "Fun..."

' _I really need to finish that fucking book. I'm not in over my head, am I?'_


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harsh memories, harsher realities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> My thumb is infected and even copypasting hurts fug my life

* * *

_Lee leans against the cold, sterile white wall and numbly watches a team of the zoo's finest veterinarians operate frantically on a small, bloodied form. Under the deep trains of red, one could make out bits of fur the same color as sun-bleached savannah dust._

_Despite all the efforts and desperate measures the veterinarians try, the rise and fall of the tiny lion's chest slows just a little more with each passing second._

_Lee looks down at his hands, his stomach churning at the sight of the red smudges still dotting his palms. The longer he looks, the more his nose stings with the sharp scent of copper. He barely even notices someone taking his shoulder and leading him out of the operating room._

" _I hate to say it, but it looks like Miss Zanta is going to reject Zuberi and Sefu... and poor Sefu is going to need more help then her mama can provide anyway."_

_Lee blinks and looks around, taking in the empty breakroom of the zoo from his spot seated in a corner. At his side, waiting patiently and quietly for a reply is Aasir._

_The Kenyan-born man takes the initiative again. "Lee, my friend. Talk to me. It's okay to be shaken," he says, laying a large hand on Lee's shoulder. "You are confused and scared. Your face says it all. It's not everyday dat somethin' like dis happens."_

_Lee looks up to his mentor briefly, then back down to his stained hand still folded in his lap._

_It happened so fast. Zanta, the eldest daughter of Makiri's second litter, had just given birth a few days prior. Her litter was small, just three female cubs named Sefu, Zuberi, and Mumtaz. Of the three, none were sickly or otherwise had any redflags that might trigger Zanta. Zanta had shown no warning signs at all. She nursed, groomed, and watched over all three cubs._

_Then she went berserk and attacked Mumtaz, her intent to kill practically tangible._

_Lee was so stunned at first, then the agonized screeches and terrified screams of the zoo-goers snapped him out of it in an instant. He ran to the staff room behind the exhibit and almost ripped the tranq gun's case off the wall in his adrenaline-fueled haste. He ran back to the exhibit and with shaking hands, took aim at Zanta and fired._

_The lioness yowled when the dart stuck her flank and she jumped, but by then, she had already moved to little Sefu. Mumtaz..._

" _Lee!"_

_Lee sucks in a violent breath and looks up at Aasir, his bloody hands forgotten for a moment._

_Aasir tightens the hand on Lee's shoulder just a bit. "My friend, do not dwell on dis," Aasir says gently. "You did everythin' right. Sometimes... Sometimes things just don't work out."_

" _But-!"_

" _But nothin'!" The Kenyan man interrupts. He sighs and runs a hand over his bald head. "Lee," he starts, voice quiet, "one of the hardest lessons anyone who works with animals has gotta learn is that we can't always predict things like dis. They don't think like you and I. What dey might see as common sense is alien to us. We can only try to bridge the gap and understand."_

" _To understand, huh?" Lee murmurs._

" _Indeed," Aasir says with a small smile. "This is a dark day for de Zoo, but we're gonna look past dat. Those cubs, dey gonna need all the help dey can get. It's the perfect opportunity to learn and understand. We're gonna look at the silver lining. You still want to be with de lion exhibit?"_

_Lee closes one hand, feeling the phantom sensation of blood-slicked fur under his fingers. He needs to be strong. Sefu and Zuberi need him. The visage of the innocent cubs flash before his eyes. "Yes. Yes, of course, I'll stay."_

_Just as he rises to go... somewhere. Just anywhere else, a sudden horrid light shines in from the window._

_Sirens howl a terrible song._

_Animals yowl in terrible agony._

_Everything_ _**BURNS** _

* * *

With a sudden gasp, Lee jolts awake, just barely restraining himself from shooting up and throwing Vulpix off his chest. He bites his lip and slowly brings a hand up to cover his painfully throbbing scars. He stares at the plain ceiling in the dark bedroom until the stinging and burning scars calm to a dull ache. Miraculously, Vulpix remains asleep on his covered chest.

' _2nd time this month...'_

The man lets out a quiet sigh and turns his head to the nightstand, where the alarm clock reads back '5:13 AM' in its baleful red numbers.

It's no use sitting and thinking about them, the cubs he raised by hand.

They're gone.

Lee sighs once more and shifts to try and return to sleep, only to find his pillow unpleasantly damp and sweaty. _'Fuck it. I'm not getting back to sleep after that dream anyway.'_

"Psst. Vulpix," Lee whispers, making the vixen's ear twitch. "Hey, honey, rise and shine. Time to get up. Hoenn isn't going to conquer itself."

Vulpix grumbles lowly and raises her head, cracking open an unamused eye to glare at her trainer with. The other eye opens shortly after as Vulpix rises to her paws, still on Lee's chest. She does a full-body stretch complete with a jaw-cracking yawn before hopping to the floor.

Lee sits up and peels the damp blanket off of himself with a grimace, noting that his sleeping attire is sweat-soaked as well. "Gross..." He murmurs, standing and walking to the small bathroom off his room. Several minutes later after a short shower in the cramped bathroom, Lee steps back out in fresh underclothes and dons his attire for the day. Vulpix watches demurely from the bedroom door.

The day he leaves the lab and actually begins a childhood dream once thought impossible. The man suppresses a shiver of nervous energy and takes a shuddering breath. He looks down to the Sliph bag at the foot of the bed, going over a mental checklist of things inside.

' _Tent, sleeping bag, clothes, food for myself and 'Pix, water, cookware, meds, Potion, pokeballs, books, ax, lighter, power bank. I know I'm missing something, but for the life of me, I can't remember...'_ Lee scratches his head and hums under his breath before looking to Vulpix. _'Anything I'm forgetting, love?'_

Vulpix says nothing either psychic or verbal but blinks and looks at the nightstand.

' _Ah, right.'_

Lee steps over and grabs the folding beater cellphone on the stand. He takes a long look at the little hunk of plastic and glass, then to his Sliph bag with a shake of his head. "We live in a world where casual spatial distortion tech and flip-phones exist in the same era. What the fuck, man."

He flips the phone open and begins dialing...

* * *

" _Hey, Lee!"_

_The scarred man and the fox at his heels stop midway back to the lab guest room. With an exhausted sigh, the man turns to face the voice._

_Behind him, a resolute Brendan stands with crossed arms._

" _Something I can do for you, Brendan?" Lee mutters, leaning against the hallway wall. "I kinda want to get to sleep."_

_The boy nods. "You turned down Ash's offer to travel with him and May. Why's that?" He asks._

_Lee scoffs, recalling Ash's offer over dinner just fifteen minutes prior. "Trust me on this, that kid is a trouble magnet. He's got a target painted on his back that actual terrorists are gunning for. He's a nice guy, but I'm not sticking my neck, and by extension Vulpix's neck out for a stranger. Plus, doesn't a grown-ass man traveling with a pair of kids, one a little girl, seem kinda creepy?"_

_Brendan mulls it over for a second. "Well, when you put it that way I get it. If you don't wanna go with them, then how about me?" He asks with a grin growing on his face._

_The man across from him blinks. "Excuse me?"_

" _Yeah, come on! It'll be fun!" Brendan insists. "Traveling alone sucks!"_

_Lee and Vulpix both slowly turn their heads to meet eyes._

" _Traveling without someone else to talk to about human stuff I mean!" Brendan quickly amends with a wave of his arm. "And no, you're a friend of the Birch family and a Hoenn sponsored trainer like me, so it's not weird if we hang out. Yes, I've already asked dad and he's cool with it."_

_Lee lets his argument die and escape his mouth as a tired hiss._

" _Plus..."_

_Brendan folds his arms behind his head in a forced show of aloofness, but his averted eyes give him away. "Plus I feel like I learn a lot from you, you know? Kinda like a cool teacher. Mudkip's growth is nothing short of explosive, and it's all with your help. I wanna learn to train as you do..."_

_The elder of the two turns away with pursed lips, trying not to let out an irritated snip. He looks back briefly to the boy, taking in his slowly falling face with a grimace. Finally, Lee sighs and caves. "Tell you what. Let me sleep on it and I'll call you in the morning. I plan on leaving then."_

_Brendan's grin lights up the whole hallway._

* * *

"It's like five in the morning, what do you want..?" Brendan's sleepy voice comes through the tinny cell phone speaker.

"Get up and gather your shit," Lee says, not bothering to hide the smirk in his voice. "We're leaving ASAP. I wanna put feet to dirt and get to a decent place to train before the heat of the day sets in and makes everyone miserable."

The other line is silent for a moment as Lee's words sink in, then the sound of someone frantically jumping out of bed comes over the phone. "W-We'll be at the lab soon!"

_Click!_

Lee closes the phone with a quiet _snap_ and pockets it. "Easy enough, eh love?" He asks Vulpix, who just chuffs and hops up to her favorite shoulder perch as Lee dons his Sliph bag and walks past.

The pair slowly walk to the front of the lab, going over the building that had been their home for over a month. The once alien building is now as familiar as the back of a hand (or paw) for both trainer and pokemon. Leaving almost felt strange. Lee stops by Birch's office and leaves his key on the Professor's desk, confident he will need it no longer.

Man and Mon step outside the lab and close the door, already hearing the squealing of jeep tires in the distance.

"This is it, love," Lee murmurs to Vulpix, who perks her ears. "This is the first real step. The journey of a very literal thousand miles begins here. Are we ready?"

The little fox says nothing but presses her cheek to her trainer's.

Lee smiles gently.

Down the road, Birch's jeep takes form in the early morning gloom with a dust cloud behind it. The jeep's brakes squeal in protest when Birch suddenly lays into them with a lead foot, making the jeep skid to a halt before Lee and Vulpix.

A woosy Brendan steps out of the passenger side, looking decidedly green. "U-Ugh... Dad, speed limits are a thing you know."

The elder Birch steps out of the vehicle looking none the worse for wear. "I know." the professor begins cheerily. "But it's only illegal if we get caught. Don't look at me like that, this is an exciting day! It's not every day a dad can see his son off on his journey."

Brendan sighs and pulls his backpack from the jeep before shouldering it in one motion. "Yeah, I guess..."

Lee looks at the jeep, noticing no other occupants. "Just you two?"

The younger of the two nods. "Yeah, Ash and May didn't want to get up so I guess they're starting later today."

Birch looks at his son with an almost misty smile. "So I guess this is goodbye for a while, kiddo. I know you'll do me proud, so don't be afraid to stop and have fun. You'll grow more over this journey than you did your entire twelve years here in Littleroot, so call me and your mom often so we don't have heart attacks when you suddenly come back as a man."

The younger Birch looks away, blushing a little in embarrassment, but he can't stop his lips from twitching upward. "Jeez Dad..."

The professor wraps his son in a hug, and the boy hugs his father tightly.

Lee smiles at the scene, even if it pokes his heart with a tiny spike of sharp envy. _'I hope mom and dad are doing okay...'_

The father and son release each other, both grinning wide. Birch then turns to Lee. "Lee, I doubt I need to say much to you, other than remember the little guys like me when you're at the top of the world, alright?"

The scarred man barks out a short laugh. "I hope you don't really mean that, Professor. Without you, Vulpix and I would have been sunk. You've done so much for us that I'm not sure how to even begin repaying you."

"The grant increases from your tourney wins are a good start," Birch replies with a chuckle. "But what I really want are those recording logs of yours. No matter how mundane your point of view may seem to you, it could be game-changing for us. Your discovery of Vulpix's pyrokinesis just from a g- er, a legend is nothing short of incredible."

The vixen on Lee's shoulder preens under the indirect praise.

Lee rubs the back of his head. "I guess..."

"And," Birch continues, his smile falling some as his voice lowers. "It's not my place to tell you how to manage your secrets, but I'd be careful about who you reveal your past to. Not everyone is so... open-minded."

"That one I knew."

"I know, just making sure for my peace of mind," Birch says, reaching out a hand that Lee firmly grasps. "Good luck on your journey friend. Try not to do anything reality-breaking without warning me first."

Birch lets his hand go, and Lee glances down at the little card that Birch discreetly left in his palm.

_1800-2134-9991_

_Post Traumatic Stress Specialists of Hoenn._

_100% Confidential. All insurance types accepted._

Just under that is Birch's chicken-scratch scrawl.

_Vulpix has been tight-lipped with Medicham but I heard you during an all-nighter a week ago. Don't purposely hurt yourself or go without. -Nigel._

Lee sucks in a sharp breath and snaps his eyes to Birch, but the professor either ignores the look or doesn't notice as he turns to address Brendan as well. "Alrighty, boys! The road awaits. Try not to get in trouble and have fun!"

"Awesome!" Brendan yells, practically vibrating with excitement. "C'mon Lee! We're burning daylight!"

Lee stares are the card in his hand even as his feet move to follow.

' _How the fuck does he expect me to use this? I can't just tell a stranger that I got nuked and boohoo it makes me sad. One way ticket to the nuthouse. This is something I have to face on my own.'_

Despite how he intended the thought to be private, having Vulpix's head inches away from his own makes Lee's thoughts as clear as spoken words over the thin telepathic band between them. Vulpix presses her cold nose to his cheek and huffs before he even finishes.

He absently reaches up to pet her. _'Maybe not on my own, but still.'_

"What's that?"

Lee stiffens and stuffs the card in his pocket with speed borne of embarrassment. He turns to glare lightly at Brendan, who only blinks in return.

"Nothing important..." Lee says, looking away.

Brendan hums under his breath."You were staring at that card so hard I thought it was going to go up in flame. We've been walking for like ten minutes."

"In-joke, don't worry."

* * *

"Here should be good."

"Ughhhhh..." the sweat-soaked Brendan groans. "Sweet, sweet shade. I promise to never take you for granted again."

Lee blows out a breath and pulls at his own damp shirt collar. "Yeah, no joke."

The pair had been walking for almost six hours. The early morning chill was merciful, making the first several hours leading to and slightly after the sunrise little more than a pleasant stroll to the north. After the sun rose, however, Hoenn began to show it's tropical climate as the heat rose without a sea-side breeze to cool anyone unfortunate enough to venture out into the sun. Lee even had to put Vulpix in her ball because having her on his shoulders made for a nausea-inducing amount of heat, even with her using Drought to try and redirect the sun rays.

And in a horrid bout of luck for Lee and Brendan, the road north of Littleroot to Oldale is nothing but flat grasslands, and today is nothing short of scorching. Not even pokemon were out and about.

That's why a copse of large trees off the side of the road made both trainers beeline for the soothing shade they offered.

Brendan drops his backpack and collapses on his back in the cool grass below one of the trees. "Ahhhhh yeah, that's the stuff," he groans in delight.

Lee is a little more graceful, but still more or less flops down as he digs in his bag and pulls a plastic water bottle from it, still as blessedly cold as when he pulled it from the lab fridge this morning.

"Sliph tech my ass," Lee huffs as he unscrews the bottle and downs the entire thing in three huge, refreshing gulps. "Huh. More like Sliph magic," he says, wiping his mouth.

"I know, right?" Brendan laughs and opens his own bag, digging for his own water. His other hand travels to his belt and snags Mudkip's pokeball. "I think it's time for lunch. C'mon out!"

Mudkip's ball flies into the air and snaps open, dumping a pokemon-shaped mass of energy on the ground that slowly turns into Mudkip. "Mud?"

Lee follows suit, tossing his sole pokeball up and letting open with a _snap-hiss._ Vulpix lands gracefully before she's even fully materialized. "Vul."

The older trainer opens his bag and fishes out the bag of self-made pokemon food he had prepared the night prior, making Vulpix's tails wag. "Alrighty girl, lunch first, then some light training?"

Mudkip turns to Lee and Vulpix, his little eyes shining with an almost malicious light, only for Brendan's hand on his head to snap him out of it.

" _Light_ training pal," Brendan says with a sheepish laugh. "If you and Vulpix burn down or knock over the trees, then we're outta luck."

Poor Mudkip slumps and Vulpix rolls her eyes.

Both trainers set out food and water for their pokemon, who dig into their meals with gusto. Brendan produces a simple sandwich from his bag and wolfs it down, totally ignoring Lee's warning to slow down before he gets sick.

Lee stares into the darkened maw of his Sliph bag, debating with himself internally. _'It's too hot to cook an actual lunch. Something light will do fine.'_

So a few mouthfuls of granola became lunch, and Lee steadfastly ignores his younger companion moaning as a stomach ache hits him.

As he rests, Lee watches both Vulpix and Mudkip finish up their meals, mulling over what he's watching. _'The games never had any systems for personal care like food, hygiene and one-on-one time in place for the pokemon, and it certainly would not have been cost-prohibitive even such systems were in place. One isn't much to care for, but six or more could add up to more time and money than I have,'_ Lee thinks with a sigh. _'I guess my plans for a Snorlax are shot. Damn.'_

Vulpix's face scrunches up as she chews her last bite of lunch. Her distaste plain for such an... Unsightly? Unattractive? Slobbish pokemon? The feeling of what she wishes to convey is in the telepathic message she sends, but she can't tie the feeling to a human word.

' _I know what you mean, love,'_ Lee sends back and he reclines back into the grass. _'But give credit where credit is due. Snorlax is a powerful pokemon and would be on everyone's team if they didn't have such unearthly upkeep.'_

Vulpix's side of the telepathic link is silent before she concedes the point with a flicker of agreement and only a slight undertone of lingering disdain.

' _Anyway, future team composition aside, let's start when you're ready, yeah?'_ Lee sends to her, making Vulpix perk up. Lee reaches into his bag and withdraws a stack of post-it notes. Vulpix draws closer and seats herself on her haunches as Lee pulls one note free and holds it up.

' _Now, corner.'_

The top right corner, the same one Lee is focusing on, smolders and spontaneously combusts with a crackle after only several seconds of Vulpix's intense stare..

Lee lets the note drop and burn to ash before pulling another one. _'Now, center.'_

Like the note before it, the one in Lee's fingers bursts into flame from the center

Man and fox train in silence for some time, only vaguely paying attention to Brendan's shouts and the sound of Mudkip firing off attacks.

"Uwah! Look!"

Both Lee and Vulpix look up at Brendan's shout.

Standing before Brendan and Mudkip is a large Shroomish. The little mushroom pokemon has it's beady eyes locked with the savagely smiling Mudkip, who shifts his weight back and forth in anticipation.

"What's a Shroomish doing so far from the Petalburg woods?" Brendan wonders aloud, voicing the question on Lee's tongue. "The little guy should have dried out in this heat."

Lee stands and pulls his Pokedex from his jacket pocket, pointing it at the Shroomish.

" _Shroomish: The Mushroom Pokemon,"_ the Pokedex begins in its dull, computerized voice. _"This mild-mannered pokemon inhabits thick forests and consumes dead plant matter. It grows well in dark, moist environments."_

"It's neither dark nor moist out here," Lee says with a frown, watching the Shroomish begin a slow walk towards Mudkip. "What's up with this little guy?"

Vulpix noses her trainer's leg and flares her telepathic connection to him, sending an image to Lee's. An image Shroomish's little eyes darting to Brendan's bag and the empty food bowls before returning to Mudkip flies through his mind.

"He's hungry?" Lee wonders, getting a nod from Vulpix.

Shroomish grimaces and turns his walk into a run, flying at Mudkip in a textbook Tackle.

Mudkip tenses just in time for Brendan to yell; "Mudkip! Dodge!"

The mudfish braces his muscular legs against the ground and leaps out of Shroomish's way, leaving the little mushroom to stumble to a stop. Then without even needing a command, Mudkip flies back at Shroomish with his own, much faster Tackle.

Shroomish's eyes widen and he tries to move his stubby legs in time, but Mudkip crashes into him like a blue missile with a painful sounding _thwack,_ throwing Shroomish back so hard that he bounces several times before rolling to a stop.

"Nice work Mudkip!" Brendan says with a fist pump, then stops when Shroomish slowly rolls back to his feet with great difficulty. Just one attack left a giant bruise on the little mushroom's front and makes him pant in pain.

"Half-starved and still has the energy to get up after a direct hit huh?" Lee mutters to Vulpix who winces in sympathy. She knows full well how hard Mudkip hits. "Tough, isn't he?"

Shroomish grimaces and runs forward again, albeit much slower, then he stops short and shakes a cloud of yellow pollen from his body with a grunt.

' _No, not pollen. Stun Spore!'_ Lee realizes. "Brendan!"

"On it!" Brendan yells back. "Mudkip! Mist down the Stun Spore!"

Mudkip takes a breath and shoots a Watergun from his maw at the rapidly approaching cloud of yellow, then he partially closes his mouth so the stream deflects off his lips, making a thick wall of mist like a pinched hose.

The Stun Spore runs into the cloud of water droplets and is stopped cold, the spores instantly soaked before falling to the ground.

Mudkip never saw Shroomish charge through the mist in a desperate Tackle.

Mudkip lets out a surprised cry when Shroomish slams his skull directly into his own, sending the mudfish back into his ass and seeing stars. Shroomish almost immediately shakes another cloud of yellow Stun Spore from his little body, practically on top of Mudkip.

"Oh man! Mudkip! Get out of there quick!" Brendan yells out in panic.

Thankfully, Mudkip isn't so concussed that he can't hear his trainer and rolls out of the way in a hurry, coming to a stop several feet away just as the cloud of Stun Spore settles where he was.

Shroomish growls in frustration, but it's immediately drowned out when Mudkip fires a retaliatory Water Gun out of pure instinct. Shroomish is so close that he has no time to dodge, so the torrent of water crashes into him in a violent surge. The water technique doesn't do much damage against the grass type Shroomish, but it's enough to throw the already battered pokémon end over end with a short cry. He comes to a stop on the ground, unmoving sans his shallow breathing.

Both Brendan and Mudkip blink. "Did... Did we win?" Brendan questions quietly, then an enormous smile breaks out on his face. "We won!" He cheers, Mudkip leaping for joy right beside his trainer.

Lee looks down to Vulpix with a small smile. "They did pretty well, eh?" Then he turns back to Brendan as the young boy rummages his through his pockets for something. Then Lee blinks as a thought strikes him. "That hungry Shroomish never intended to win, did he?"

Vulpix just shakes her head.

"All right! Here we go!" Brendan yells in excitement, pulling a pokeball from his pocket. "First catch! Go pokeball!"

The little red and white ball flies from his hand straight and true, bouncing off the unconscious Shroomosh before popping open and sucking him inside as a wave of red light. The ball falls to the ground and begins to shake, it's central button flashing red.

Both Brendon and Lee watch it with bated breath.

A nerve-racking ten seconds later, and the ball falls still with a quiet _'ping!'_

Brendan can't contain his excitement. He throws his head back and laughs up to the sky, raising his shaking, adrenaline-filled arms. All the while, Mudkip beams with pride, up until Brendan snags him up in a hug. "We did it! We caught Shroomish!"

Lee can't help but find Brendon's smile infectious and looks down at Vulpix, who smiles faintly back.

' _It's one thing to see it on a TV or a computer screen, but an actual catching is pretty incredible.'_ Lee thinks to himself. Then he clears his throat. "Hey, Brendan! I hate to rain on your parade, but your newest team member was looking pretty hungry and is no doubt tired now," the man starts, stopping Brendan and Mudkip's little victory dance. "I'm sure it'll make a good impression if you fed him and offered a spritz of Potion."

Brendan is quick to grab the now still pokeball and rush back under the shade with Mudkip at his heels. "Good thinking! He did seem a little scrawny..." He says, rolling the pokeball between his fingers as he settles next to Lee. "Say, how much further until we get to Oldale Town?"

"Hrm", Lee rubs his chin and looks up at the sun through the cool cover of leaves, estimating the time to be around 1 PM. "If we really make tracks, we could probably be there by the end of tomorrow. That means marching through the heat without any rest, however, and I don't know about you, but fuck that."

The young Birch tries to stifle a laugh at his companion's profanity. "Two days, then?"

"Two days," Lee confirms with a nod. "Fuck Hoenn and this tropical heat. After the Ever Grande conference, I'm going to Sinnoh and staying there," he says, falling back into the soft grass.

Brendan just rolls his eyes as he digs through his bag, producing a spray bottle of Potion. "Wahhh, it's hot. I'm going to Sinnoh," Brendan mocks with a smirk, lowering his voice a few octaves to try and mimic Lee. "Then I'll complain about the cold and say I'm going to Hoenn next year."

Vulpix left out a few vulpine yips that sounds similar to someone trying to cough and laugh at once while Mudkip openly chortles.

"Har har, you're a regular comedian," Lee snorts. "Sounds like someone has rested up enough to keep going. Patch up your new friend and let's get going."

* * *

Lee watches the simmering pan of meat and veggies carefully, occasionally moving it to keep it over the hotspot over the campfire and to keep the heat away from his sensitive scars. Inwardly, He curses and remembers what he forgot when the team set out from the lab. _'A flashlight. Campfire or not, it's so dark that I can't see shit.'_

After traveling for several more hours and again finding few pokémon due to the sheer heat of the day, the duo came to a clearing off the road that made for a perfect campground for the night. The sun had just begun to set when they stopped, and now the entire surrounding area is covered by the gloomy dark With the silence broken by the minute noise of bug pokemon in the distance.

About twenty feet away, Brendan and Mudkip busy themselves with setting up the tent, both overcoming the exhaustion of a full day's walk with the childish enthusiasm that they throw into their work. Brendan had the foresight to bring a lamp, so their work is much more fruitful than Lee's.

Right next to Lee, Vulpix and Shroomish, the newest member of the little group, watch the elder human cook. The first watches with the same cool disinterest that she regards most things, and the second watches the pan and the food inside more than he does the human.

' _The little guy must be absolutely starved,'_ Lee sends to Vulpix. _'He utterly scarfed that bland pre-mix food without a single complaint. Why was he so far from the woods, in flat grasslands of all places?'_

Vulpix just looks up at him and gives him the mental equivalent of a shrug. A pair of images fly through Lee's mind. One of an oblivious Shroomish wandering until the forest around him vanished, and another of a broken pokeball.

' _Got lost or abandoned, eh?'_ Lee sends back, glancing down at the still focused Shroomish. The little mushroom's skin is dry and taut across his form, and he seems several inches shorter than the 1'4" average that the Pokedex lists. Then he looks back to Brendan, who admires the now complete tent before a light breeze knocks it over. "Oh come on!" Brendan exclaims, pulling at his hat.

' _Well, Brendan will fix both those problems.'_

* * *

"Ugh...Finally," Brendan says with a slump of his shoulders

Both Lee and Brendan spy a rustic wooden sign along the road that reads the blessed words _"Oldale Town 0.25 mi -"_

Lee stretches his arms above his head and exhales, trying to hide his own fatigue. "Just about three days exactly. Not bad," he says with a tired huff. Lee glances up to the slowly darkening sky and stops abruptly. _'What the fuck?'_

Brendan groans and stops as well. "What are we stopping for?"

Lee points towards the distant sky over Oldale, and Brendan does a double-take.

Coming from the direction of the town is an enormous pillar of acrid, black smoke, thick enough to blot out the colors of the sunset illuminated sky. The wind shifts for just a few seconds, letting both Lee and Brendan catch the scent of something burning in the air.

Brendan suddenly sprints forward with renewed energy, his hand already grasping at Mudkip's ball. "C'mon Lee!"

Lee groans and runs after his young companion, just barely keeping pace. "You know, common sense normally dictates that you don't run _towards_ something like that!"

The younger of the two doesn't bother with a reply, he just keeps running.

They cover the last Quarter-mile in record time, cresting the hill into Oldale. The pillar of smoke grows ever larger and more imposing the closer they become, billowing and covering much of the sky. Groups of people and the occasional pokémon stand fearfully and point at the smoke as the pair of trainers cross into a small residential area, many of them with exclamations of panic.

"Okay, hold the fuck up!" Lee snarls, reaching out and grabbing Brendan by the collar of his shirt, making the young Birch gag and stop in his tracks. "Running in gung ho will just get us killed. We don't even know what's going on!"

A middle-aged man who was watching the smoke from his porch with a stricken expression overhears and turns to Lee and Brendon. "Are you two Pokémon trainers?!"

"We are!" Brendan yells back.

"The Pokemon Center is on fire!" The man exclaims. "I heard on the police scanner that some pokémon went berserk and tried to attack some younglings! It happened so fast! After that, the fire started!"

Lee freezes, his nightmare from several nights ago returning to him with cruel clarity.

_Went berserk..._

_Happened so fast..._

_...Attacked cubs._

Lee licks his suddenly dry lips. "W-Well the police and firefighters should be there taking care of this, right?"

The man shakes his head and looks back at the smoke with poorly concealed fear. "Officer Jenny's Azumarill is our only firefighter since old man Ogden and his Swampert retired. Please! You have to help them!"

' _You going to make a difference this time? Or are you going to just stand around with a dumb look on your face?'_ A voice in the back of Lee mind taunts.

The scarred man freezes then grabs Vulpix's pokeball with a white-knuckle grip.

"Damn it all."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pen is indeed mightier than the sword. The pen is the perfect weapon if your foe's sword is much larger than yours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> detailed criticisms are my crack. put a cigarette out on me and call my writing bad

* * *

' _Why am I such a fucking sap?'_

With arms pumping, hearts pounding, and pokeballs held in iron-like grips, both Lee and Brendan round the final corner to the Pokemon Center.

Hell greets them.

The large center, several stories high and taking up the entire left side of the street, is engulfed in a raging inferno on the entirety of the left side of the first story where it slowly spreads. Rolling flames pour from the long since shattered windows, producing a thick, black smoke so dense it looks as if it could be cut with a knife. Embers burn away from the building and rise up into the air like literal fireflies, flying away to burn out high in the evening sky.

A small team of human firefighters armed with a loaded fire truck and a police officer with an Azumarill stand before the building, trying valiantly to battle the fire. They blast water into the flaming entrance of the center with the Azumarill doing the bulk of the work, but the fire refuses to die down. Just behind them stands a small crowd of people and pokemon being looked over by an entirely too small team of medics and a frantic Nurse Joy.

The sight of the uncontrolled flames makes Lee's stomach drop and fill with ice. His scars flare in phantom pain and he breathes slowly through his nose as if using his mouth would invite the fire to rush inside him. Brendan releases in a flash of light Mudkip and turns to say something to him, but the boy's words are lost through the dull roar of the fire.

In his hand, Vulpix's ball shakes violently before bursting open. The sudden noise and jerk of his handshakes Lee from his spiraling thoughts as Vulpix presses herself to his legs. Nary a second later, the vixen reaches out with her telepathy and gently wraps her mind around her trainer's, coaxing him back to reality.

Lee lets out a short gasp as his surroundings come back into sharp focus and clenches his hand around the now empty ball in his hand. He looks down at Vulpix, who returns his gaze with a cool expression, an expression betrayed only by the soothing warmth that flows from her mind to his.

The man takes a deep, shuddering breath. _'Love, I know I'd be lost without you.'_

Vulpix just presses herself a little more to him.

"Lee!"

Lee turns to Brendan, who glares up at the man with a surprising amount of venom. "Are we going to help or what?"

Lee quashes his sudden irritation and nods with a sigh. "Yes. Let's go."

The pair of trainers rush to the front of the group, passing a few firefighters and coming to a stop behind the female police officer. "Hey! Officer!"

The woman looks over her shoulder, revealing herself to be none other than Officer Jenny. She regards the trainers with her eyebrows furrowed. "What are you two doing here?! Get back! It's dangerous!" she yells, voice barely audible over the din of the fire.

"We're professor Birch's trainers!" Brendan yells back, flashing his ID just long enough for Jenny's eyes to scan over it. "We're here to help!"

The woman's shoulders lose the slightest bit of tension. "Thank goodness! Do either of you have a water pokemon? We have a rescue team inside trying to get the stragglers and Azumarill and I need to go in and help, but a fire this size will spread without someone outside to help with containment. I hate to lay this burden and you two, but can you help?"

"Of course!" Brendan says, his serious face cracking for a small grin. At his side, Mudkip lets out a cry of agreement.

Lee and Vulpix both simply nod. _'Ready, love?'_ Lee asks her, only to stumble a little when Vulpix widens the channel between them. The scarred man takes a breath and looks back to the burning building. The flames seem so much sharper now, and the heat _pushes_ against a phantom sense he never had.

Jenny turns and says something to Azumarill, but it's lost in the roar of the flame. The pair rush away and boldly dart into the burning building, leaving Brendan and Mudkip to take their place.

"Hey, Brendan!" Lee yells, making Brendan glance back at him. "Vulpix and I are going to contain the flames as best we can. Take your time, Mudkip's stamina has to last this entire crisis!"

"Hear that pal?!" the boy asks his Mudkip, who nods seriously back. Brendan points and Mudkip unleashes a torrent of water into a burning window.

' _Alrighty, lets do this.'_

Lee looks up to the burning pokemon center, accurately able to _feel_ where Vulpix is looking. His eyes shoot to a burning part of the center's siding, and instantly Vulpix's focus shifts to where he's looking. The fire is slowly creeping across the building.

' _Now...'_ Lee hesitates, suddenly unsure how to move forward. _'Starve the flames. Deprive them of oxygen.'_

Vulpix's focus sharpens, and Lee tries to aid her by visualizing the flames shrinking or pulling away, but nothing happens. The pyrokinesis keeps slipping, like a hand trying to grip a fist-sized ball of marble slick with oil. Vulpix growls in frustration and Lee can feel it over the widened psychic channel. A splash of water from Mudkip puts put the on-fire section they were working on and knocks Lee and Vulpix out of sync.

' _Easy love. Just take a calming breath and focus,'_ Lee sends to her, including a clumsy feeling of reassurance.

The vixen huffs and pulls on his mind with hers again. The pair move their focus to a blown-out window throwing flames and embers all over.

' _We can't starve the flames by trying to pull away oxygen. That must be out of the realm of your pyrokinesis. At least for now, it tried to respond earlier,'_ Lee thinks, biting his lip. _'What if you just... I dunno, pulled the flames away from the building and let them go? Without something to burn, would it just go out?'_

Vulpix closes her eyes and reaches out to the flames again, this time firmly finding purchase with her pyrokinesis. The fire roaring from the window grows magnificently as onlookers scream, almost throwing the combined focus of Lee and Vulpix out of whack. The fire wavers then grows again as the pair _pull_ the section of fire outside of the building. A great ball of flame floats away from the now unburning window before Vulpix _lets go_.

The great conflagration dies without even a whimper, and the onlookers gasp. Even Brendan whips his head around to stare at them.

' _Yes! Just like that!'_ Lee can't help but grin at the sheer elation he feels from the normally cool vixen. _'I can't believe that worked! C'mon girl, next one! We've got a Pokemon Center to save!'_

"Vul!" Vulpix verbally cries in agreement.

"Brendan!" Lee calls to the still stunned boy. "Have Mudkip soak the spots Vulpix pulls the flames from so they can't reignite!"

He nods absently, still looking at Vulpix "Yeah, sure."

Lee takes a breath and syncs back up with Vulpix, focusing on a section of the wall with fire slowly creeping across it.

Over the course of about fifteen minutes, Vulpix and Mudkip do what would have taken the firefighters hours to do alone. As they work, several groups of people and pokemon escape the burning building and are quickly herded away by the EMTs, Nurse Joy, and a pair of Chanseys. With Vulpix methodically pulling away swathes of fire and Mudkip making reignition impossible, nearly the entire outside of the Pokemon Center had been put out. Smoke still pours from the inside and flickers inside could still be seen, however.

Brendan pulls a bottle of water out from his bag and offers it to his panting, dehydrated Mudkip, who snatches the bottle from his hand and sucks down the water in an impressive half-second. The boy then pulls out his PokeNav and glances at the time. "Officer Jenny has been in there for twenty minutes..."

Lee sighs and rubs his forehead with his thumb and index finger. "And you want to go in and help?"

At Brendan resolute nod, Lee groans. _'What do you think, love?'_

Vulpix mulls the question over then looks up at him and nods.

' _Shit. Outvoted. Of course.'_

Lee crosses his arms and closes his eyes, debating his next words. "Alright, we'll help, but this is how it's going down. Vulpix and I will go in, but you and Mudkip are staying out here."

"What!?" Brendan yells in outrage, his face twisting into a scowl. "No way! We're-!"

"Going to run in and get killed?"

Brendan stops at the question, his expression frozen.

Lee opens his eyes, and although feeling bad about it, glares down at Brendan, making the boy wilt. "Look at Mudkip," Lee orders.

Brendan slowly turns to look down at his panting pokemon, who doesn't seem to be listening. Watery strands of drool hang from the edges of his mouth and there is the slightest tremor in his legs.

"Mudkip is exhausted and Shroomish will be no use in a fire," Lee states, uncrossing his arms and easing his glare. "A spent amphibian water type will dehydrate near instantly in such conditions, and that's a death sentence for both of you. Vulpix, meanwhile, is fire-retardant and has her pyrokinesis, but she can't stress herself protecting both of us and potentially helping the people trapped inside. The less she needs to spread herself out, the better."

The younger trainer's shoulders slump. "But... I..." He looks around, seemingly lost for words. "I don't want to be useless is the thing," he softly replies. "I'm a lab trainer just like you and we're supposed to be leaders and help people and all that, right?"

' _Oh jeez...'_

Lee's own shoulders slump. "Look," he begins, wrapping an arm around Brendan's shoulders. "You won't be useless. See all these people out here?" Lee asks, using his free arm to gesture at all the onlookers, some watching them. "This rattled them something fierce," he says a bit softer, making Brendan blink. "They would use an overbearingly cheerful brat of a hero who helped put out the Pokemon Center fire. Go reassure them, let them know we got this, because the wellbeing of the people affected by a tragic event is the most important thing here, and that includes peace of mind."

He could feel Vulpix frown without even looking at her, but his words seem to have the desired effect of perking Brendan up. He regains his usual grin. "Alright, if you say so, but if you come out covered in soot with a smoker's cough then I'm laughing. Just warning you now."

Lee snorts and lets him go. "You get to hear the cough anyway because after this shit I could really use a cig. Let's go, love."

Vulpix takes point and leads Lee right towards the entrance of the Center. He glances back to see Brendan and Mudkip take off towards the crowd of onlookers. Lee turns back just in time to see Vulpix dislodge several small, candle-like fires by the entrance and let them wink out.

The pair advance inside, carefully looking over the wet, burned lobby and ignoring the still screaming fire alarm. Other than a few smoldering spots, the fire is totally out here. The sprinkler units above are still intact for some reason, so Officer Jenny and Azumarill had to have been the ones to contain the fire.

"Remember what that guy said when we got in town?" Lee asks the vixen at his feet as they turn down a hallway to follow a thin stream of smoke, making her look back and nod. "Supposedly a berserk pokemon started the fire, but nearly half the damn building was in flames when we got here. If we have to face down something like a Charizard this early in our adventure then I quit."

Vulpix chuffs in amusement and her lips pull back into a thin vulpine smile.

Lee and Vulpix venture further on, glancing into the various exam rooms they pass to find each one already evacuated. Most are intact, with just the water-soaked doors sporting burns like the hallway, but a few of them are burned and melted beyond recognition. As they walk, the smoke becomes heavier, forcing Lee to put his arm over this mouth and nose to use his sleeve as a crude filter. Vulpix, being so low to the ground, avoids the smoke entirely.

At the end of the hallway they walk, the path splits right and left, to the left is an undamaged hallway, to the right...

Lee grimaces as his scars flare.

To the right is a flaming hellscape. The entire hallway sans a thin, damp path on the ground is coated in fire. Again, the sprinklers haven't deployed despite being partially melted slag by now. Something curious to see is the electrical outlets in the hallway are all blown out, some of them sparking. The rolling smoke, roar and crackle of the flames, and the shrill tone of the fire alarm make for a dizzying amount of sensory overload.

The scarred man closes his eyes, takes deep breaths, and reaches his mind out to Vulpix, who grasps his with her own near instantly.

With their combined focus, the little fox puts out the fire section by section, pulling the flames away from their fuel and letting them wink out of existence with a short _woosh_ that can't be heard over the other noise. Man and fox slowly advance bit by bit, and with the fires dying, the smoke clears a little more each second, finally revealing a set of ajar double doors at the end of the short hallway. Above the doors is a sign that reads _Nursery_.

There is a sudden, violent crackle like a taser hooked directly to a power plant, followed by a shrill shriek of pain and the sound of a body hitting the ground right beyond the doors.

"Azumarill!" cries the hoarse voice of Jenny.

Lee and Vulpix freeze, then as one rush past the doors.

The first thing they see is the seething, almost glowing red eyes of an enormous Manectric. The pokemon's fur crackles with arcs of electricity and steel-like muscle ripples under its skin. Pearly, fanged teeth clench as the electric type glares at them with crazed anger. Its claws effortlessly dig into the tiled floor under its feet and it seems only seconds away from sprinting at them full-tilt.

Just a few feet away, Jenny's Azumarill barely stands. The poor mouse pokemon is covered in electrical burns that expose cracked, red flesh under her fur, her tail has a painful looking bend in it, and her body is stiff, her fur snapping and crackling with electricity. Just breathing seems like a horrid labor that she fights for.

' _Must be paralysis,'_ Lee thinks with a gulp.

Behind Azumarill, Jenny stands with gritted teeth, holding her left arm which sports an already blistered burn. She looks between her Azumarill and the monster of a Manectric with the faintest flicker of fear in her eyes. Her eyes move to Lee and Vulpix, silently begging for help.

And just behind Jenny and huddled in the corner, a terrified brunette woman in a white labcoat clutches a green pokemon egg to her chest, her expression twisted in terror.

The rest of the room is bare. The destroyed egg incubators along the wall are all empty and all the small nursery beds that would hold infant pokemon are thankfully empty and corpse-free.

"Mister Henson!" Jenny cries. "This Manectric is the culprit behind the fire! It blew out the electrical systems in the Center and the overloaded outlets all over this side of the building started fires. It's trying to get the intern behind me! We need your help, Azumarill isn't going to last!"

The Manectric's glare is absolutely murderous now, and Lee doesn't need to read any of its body language to understand the unspoken _"Don't interfere."_

Lee gulps. _'Love, I came in here fully expecting a fight with a totally unreasonable fire type, not... this,'_ he sends to Vulpix, who doesn't reply, too focused with carefully watching Manectric. _'What reason would Manectric have to go apeshit? Is it wild? Owned? Too many unknowns and not enough time to puzzle them out. We don't have a good counter for an electric type. I hate to say it, but I don't think we can fight our way out of this one.'_

The vixen looks back at him, not pleased with the unintentional slight on her power, but she can't hide how the constant pyrokinesis has drained her, and that Manectric does look kind of big... She sends Lee a telepathic image of the terrified intern. Or more specificity, of the egg she's holding.

The green egg _with yellow stripes, the same coloring as an_ _ **Electrike**_. Manectric's fury suddenly makes more sense.

' _You have got to be joking. Could this shitty situation get any more volatile?'_

Lee pushes away his fear and steadies his breathing. _'Vulpix, do you know Manectric's gender?'_

Vulpix takes a few subtle sniffs of the air, then sends him a wordless feeling that he interprets as _'female'_

' _Angry, territorial mother. I know this song and dance. Just I get flayed alive rather than mauled with a fuck-up. No pressure.'_

Lee looks over to Jenny and the petrified intern. "Both of you, stay quiet and follow my lead," he says just quiet enough to be heard over Manectric's crackling fur. Lee steps forward towards Manectric slowly, not bothering to look and see what Jenny's reaction was. The instant Manectric pulls her lips back and growls, he takes a half-step back, stops, and slowly lowers himself to his knees with his head bowed, not ever looking huge electric type in the eyes the entire time. He silently curses the adrenaline coursing through his limbs and making his movements jerky and almost too fast. When his knees finally come to rest on the ground. Lee speaks slowly and softly.

"Manectric, I understand what's going on. You're angry and want what belongs to you back, right?" He asks, taking great care to make sure his teeth don't show and hoping Manectric has a grasp on English.

Whatever deity out their answers his prayers, as the crackling in Manectric's fur drops in intensity. She tilts her head and regards him with slightly less violence in her gaze.

"You're the superior here and we don't want to fight," Lee continues, resisting the urge to wipe away the sweat on his forehead. "Everyone here has been through enough, you especially. I promise we'll return the egg to you. It's rightfully yours and whoever took it was wrong."

Manectric's crackling dies down to infrequent pops, and her snarl eases to a resting expression, but her eyes are still locked onto Lee.

Lee slowly turns to the bewildered woman behind the equally bewildered Jenny and shuffles on his knees to her, hand held out. "Give me the egg," he says, glancing at Manectric to gauge her reaction or lack thereof.

The woman suddenly snaps out of her daze. "B-but this egg was slated for donation to Professor Sycamore's lab!" she exclaims, holding the egg tighter. "The boy who donated said he went to a lot of trouble to get it. Look at the size of the mother! It could be the Giant's Gene. Can't you just beat this poke-"

Manectric's growl rattles the whole room.

Fighting down the urge to scream, Lee forces the next words out. "Unless you want to leave here in a body bag or want to give it up yourself," he slowly, as if explaining to a child. "You are going to give me that egg, and then I am going to return it to Manectric. I'm sure Sycamore will understand once he hears about Manectric being so livid as to nearly kill us all and burn down a Pokemon Center. I'm not about to throw my Vulpix into the meatgrinder of a fight Manectric will put up. Give me the egg. Now."

Hands shaking, the brunette woman drops the egg into Lee's waiting hands. The egg is warm and the smoothest thing he's ever held, and he even forgets his fear for a moment to marvel at it. He shuffles back to his original spot and gently places the egg on the cracked tile floor before moving back several feet. "All yours, as it should be."

The massive Manectric steps forward, each clack of her claws on the floor like thunder in the silent room. She leans down and sniffs the egg several times, her eyes scanning every inch for any imperfection. Then she turns her eyes to Lee.

She steps forward again, and Lee feels his heart begin to hammer so hard that it echos in his ears. He keeps his head faced downward submissively and eyes averted, avoiding anything that Manectric may take as a challenge. Vulpix's alarm flares over the telepathic tether between herself and Lee, and it's only his repeated message of _'Don't move! Stand down!'_ that keeps her from leaping and attacking.

The electric type lowers her head to Lee's level. She's so close that he can feel her hot breath on his cheek and his hair tries to stand up from the electric charge around her.

_Lick_

The man can't help but sputter when, rather than mauling him, Manectric licks him several times right over his scars, making them tingle like low voltage was run through them.

The huge pokemon pulls away and regards the tense Vulpix for a moment, then the barely conscious Azumarill and shocked Jenny, but does not deign to look at the young intern. Then in one smooth motion, she turns and leans down, taking her egg with all the care one would thin glass in her maw, before leaping through the glass window against the back of the room. In just a few lightning-fast bounds, she's gone and out of sight, vanishing to the night.

' _Huh... The sun set while we were in here.'_

"W-What just happened?" Officer Jenny asks, looking between Lee and the broken window, her expression lost.

The intern just slumps back into the wall, staring at nothing.

Lee falls backward, laying spread on the floor, uncaring of the broken tiles jabbing his back and waving away Vulpix's concern when she steps into his vision. "Hey, Jenny? What's the legality of sending a pokemon to pick up smokes with some money? I really just want to pass out here."

* * *

"It's no problem at all!"

The mayor of Oldale could easily be mistaken for a professional Santa. The older, rotund man, mayor of Oldale for 24 years now, has roughly the same looks as Santa, but with a bombastic personality that almost makes his quaint office in the town hall feel too small. Both his belly and white beard shake with his exclamation. "It would shame all of us in Oldale if we let our heroes go without reward. We are a small town you know, but we are not without luxuries! In fact, I called our finest hotel and the owner _insisted_ you boys stay a few nights free of charge in their best room!"

Brendan doesn't even try to hide his grin, and Lee smiles at the jolly man on the outside, but inwardly...

' _Jesus man, I understand you're grateful and all, but c'mon. Where is the recognition of the firefighters, EMTs and all that?'_ Then a more cynical thought hits him. _'Is all this because we're lab trainers? Or because Brendan is Nigel's son? Would they catch a bad rap if they_ _ **didn't**_ _treat us well?'_ Lee thinks to himself, not wanting to wake the snoozing Vupix across his shoulders. _'Too much to think about and not enough energy.'_ He suppresses a yawn.

Then without warning, Lee's phone begins to buzz and ring in his pocket, stopping the mayor from starting up another long-winded thanks and waking up an instantly cranky Vulpix. Pulling the phone out, the front screen reads _"Prf Birch."_

"Sorry, sir," Lee apologizes to the mayor. "It's from Professor Birch. I think I have to take this," he says, giving the phone a little wave.

"No harm done my boy!" The mayor says with a laugh. "Go on, your taxi to your hotel is outside whenever you're ready. Have a wonderful night you two!"

"Thanks again!" Brendan says, following after Lee who is already out the door.

Lee flips the phone open- _'Thats still novel'-_ as he and Brendan walk to the lobby and answers. "Evening, Professor," he says, seating himself with Brendan following suit. "I think I already know why you're calling."

" _Not even out for a week and you two made the news,"_ Birch replies, his tone almost a laugh. _"Is Brendan there? Can you put me on speaker?"_

Vulpix lets out a low whine and resigns herself to be awake through more human chatter.

The scarred man pulls the phone away from his head and hits the speaker button. "You're on, Professor," he says, reaching up with his free hand to pat the grumpy vixen.

"Hey, dad!" Brendan leans over the cellphone with a wide smile.

" _Hey, sport."_ Birch greets back. _"You about gave me and your mom a heart attack, you know that? Being firefighter relief on only day three? I had to wait a full three months before I got to see any action, and that was just a ranger asking for help finding a lost Furret."_

The boy laughs nervously. "Hehe. Oops?"

Lee snorts. "Where do I put in my two weeks professor? I think I've had enough excitement already," he ribs.

" _You act like I'd accept your resignation,"_ Birch shoots back with a chuckle. _"So what happened in there? Reports say a pokemon started the fire, but it's wild how the fire got so out of control so quickly."_

Lee hums and thinks the long day over. "It wasn't a fire pokemon like everything initially thought, but a gargantuan, wild Manectric, maybe one with the Giants's Gene. She got into the Pokemon Center looking for her stolen egg and overloaded the wiring in the building so much that outlets all over exploded, starting fires. The sprinklers were electronically controlled if I recall, so that's why the fire got out of hand. Luckily no one was killed and the injured will all make recoveries, but a decent part of the center is toast."

Birch is silent for a moment. _"And you battled this Manectric? Did you catch her?"_

Lee shakes his head, then feels a little foolish when he realizes Birch can't see him. _'I need some sleep.'_ "Confronted her, yes, battled her, no. She had Officer Jenny and a center intern with the egg cornered. This really seemed like one of those 'pick your battle' moments, so I de-escalated and returned the egg to her. She left without incident after that."

" _Deescalated?"_ Birch asks, his confusion easily apparent. Brenden turns to look at Lee curiously as well. _"Lee, you were between an angry mother and her egg, a mother with the_ _ **Giant's Gene**_ _if you saw correctly. Most wild pokemon refuse to listen to reason for much less than egg theft and are willing to fight much tougher odds. How...How did you escape?"_

"I..." Lee falters, suddenly unsure. He glances at the still curious Brendan. "I used skills from my old occupation is all."

" _Ahh..."_ Birch replies. _"Of course. Make a log of all of that and send it to me when you can, will you please? Written or audio is good,"_ all traces of his disbelief are gone from his voice. _"And Brendan? I already know what you're going to ask. Don't pester Lee about his past. He'll tell you if he wants."_

The younger trainer's jaw shuts with a click of his teeth, his question replaced with a long-suffering sigh.

" _I won't keep you guys all night, but Brendan, your mom does want to yell-erm, talk to you. Lee, can you hand the phone to Brendan for a bit?"_

Lee smirks and hits the speaker button again before handing the flip-phone to a now pale Brendan. "Walk and talk, champ. I need a shower and some sleep," the older trainer says, standing and making for the exit of Oldale's city hall.

Vulpix lets out a sigh and snuggles closer to her human's neck before she rests her head back down on his shoulder... Only to scrunch her muzzle when the yelling over the cellphone and Brendan's mumbled defense is still audible even with the boy dragging his feet several yards back. She lets out a sigh of relief when a thumb and middle finger close around her head and tenderly rub her aching temples.

Lee smiles when he feels contentment flow through his and Vulpix's tether. _Tether._ He quite likes the descriptor of their connection. _'Don't get too comfy, love. We'll have a big, soft bed we can cuddle in here in just a bit.'_ Lee sends as they walk up to the taxi idling under a lit streetlamp. _'Maybe call room service for a snack and we'll definitely sleep in.'_

Vulpix musters the will to raise her head just long enough to lick his cheek.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grand heroism is it's own reward, at least until it attracts those who would test your mettle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> Fuc

* * *

"Finish it up! Tackle!"

"No! Aipom! Out of the way!"

The small crowd of spectators cheer as Brendan's Shroomish rushes the twitching, paralyzed Aipom across the makeshift arena. The Aipom can only grit his teeth and shut his eyes, his body not heeding his trainer's cry to dodge. The little mushroom pokemon collides head-first into Aipom with a painful _Thwack!,_ throwing the little monkey to the ground where he lands heavily and ceases to move.

The referee by the sidelines, an older trainer in her teens, waits for several seconds then points to Shroomish. "Aipom is unable to battle! The winners are Shroomish and Brendan Birch!"

Further back behind Brendan, Lee watches his young friend cheer and rush out to the field from the shade of the Pokemon Center. Brendan scoops his pokemon up into a hug and says something that is lost over the cheering of the onlookers. Shroomish gives his trainer a dull look but does not resist the hug.

' _Makes sense that the town's battling area would be right behind the Pokemon Center,'_ Lee looks back to the large, hospital-like building, already reopened just two days after the fire sans the damaged parts that are already being repaired. _'I've got to give credit to the Pokemon League. They really don't fuck around,'_ he thinks, watching a team of large bird pokemon wearing League vests fly overhead, each one carrying an entire pallet of building materials in their talons without a hint of strain. They touch down beside the Center one by one, giving their loads to human construction workers aided by a medley of bulky fighting and rock types, mostly Machop, Geodude, and the rare Machoke, but Lee swears he saw a Lucario bounding about with a tool belt on.

He turns back to the arena in time to see Brendan and his dejected opponent, a young, probably 11-year-old kid named Jason or something, shake hands.

Vulpix huffs at Lee's feet and flicks her fan of tails, her irritation beginning to bleed through the tether to him.

' _Give it some time, love. One will want to battle eventually,'_ Lee sends to her. His own uncertainty is much harder to hide in a telepathic conversation, however, and so the vixen just huffs again.

Nearly all of the battle-hungry trainers in Oldale are young beginners that started only this year, all of whom looked at himself and Vulpix with no small amount of apprehension. The rumor mill in the small town was in full swing, and the only things that most people knew are that a trainer with scars on his face and a Vulpix went in the burning Center, a gigantic Manectric 'fled', then they came out after rescuing Jenny and the hapless Center intern.

People connected the dots and assumed Lee and Vulpix were grizzled veterans.

Ha!

Since the egos of young trainers are delicate, none wanted a bout with a 'veteran'. Instead, they all decided to challenge the other town hero, a kid like them.

Brendan is sitting at 8 wins and 0 defeats so far. Mudkip gladly demolished any pokemon before him, including an Elekid that an older boy bragged heartily about, assured of his win from the type advantage alone. The bragging stopped when Mudkip's Mud Slap lifted Elekid right off his feet and straight into dreamland.

Shroomish, the battler for the last two rounds, struggled more than his masochistic blue teammate but pulled wins under Brendan's coaching.

Vulpix looks up to her trainer, sending him a feeling of both stiffness and illness along with an image of the downed Aipom being returned to its ball.

' _Yeah, poison powder and stun spore. Brendan is shaping up to be a good battler with how he plays to the strengths of his team,'_ Lee mentally replies, watching as yet another young trainer, so eager to prove himself, matches up to Brendan with a pokeball in hand. _'Mudkip is a full throttle berserker, and Shroomish is a more reserved distance fighter. Definitely more in-depth than a simple turn-based game.'_

"Hey, you're the guy who rushed into the Pokemon Center during the fire, right?"

Lee blinks away his thoughts and turns to address whoever spoke to him.

Just to his right is a pretty young woman several inches shorter than he, with dark, short-cropped hair that comes down to her chin in rough locks. She's clad in a form-hugging black top an equally form-fitting olive drab shorts secured with a red rope belt. Around her shoulders is a well-worn brown traveling cloak. Her eyes, a dark crimson, look down to Vulpix.

' _Wait. I know who this is...'_

The instant that Vulpix returns her gaze, the woman lets out a god-honest _"Squeeee!"_

"You are just the cutest!" cries the woman with a beaming smile and stars in her eyes. She crouches down to Vulpix's level and scratches behind her ear. From Vulpix's unique-sounding purr, the mysterious woman guessed Vulpix's sweet spot in one try. "And you're so soft that it's sinful! What's your secret, sister?"

The vixen stops pushing her head against the woman's hand and looks back up to Lee. The woman follows Vulpix's eyes up to Lee before she freezes and blushes..

She stands hastily with a nervous laugh. "Haha... Sorry about blowing you off like that," she says sheepishly. "It's not every day you get to see such a rare fire type. Anyway, my name is Zinnia, nice to meet you!"

Lee racks his brain to try and remember where he heard that name before. A moment later, it clicks

' _The woman from the Alpha and Omega remakes?'_ He wonders, having only played the beginning of the Delta Episode of Omega Ruby. _'What's she doing in Oldale?'_

Lee chuckles and takes her outstretched hand for a shake. "Lee is the name, and you've already met Vulpix." As he says that, the little fox jumps to her favorite perch on his shoulders to watch the proceedings. "She's the more interesting of the two of us, so no harm done."

Zinnia smiles as the tension leaves her shoulders. "Glad to hear it. Anyway, I wanted to know if you wanted to battle? You and this cutie here would be a great challenge!"

Everyone not watching Brendan and his latest battle turns and looks after hearing the question. Several whisper in excitement. "Yeah! Battle!" Someone cries.

"I wanna see the Vulpix fight!" a young trainer that Brendan thrashed earlier yells

"Yeah! She sent that titanic Manectric packing! She's gotta be crazy strong!" A girl in her teens joins in.

"Hey, yeah!" Someone confirms. "This'll be an awesome match!"

Lee blanches. "I dunno about that. Brendan and I were going to get on the road after lunch and... and uh...we don't want to exhaust ourselves?" A second later dread begins to pool in his stomach. _'Of fucking course, a Dragon trainer would single us out,'_ He sends to Vulpix as everyone groans at his words.

"C'mon, Lee. It'll be fun!" Zinnia says, taking a shrunken pokeball from her belt. All the onlookers roar in agreement.

Lee screws his eyes shut with a sigh. _'I know pokemon battles are big deals here, and rightfully so, but god damn, why does this freak me out so much?!'_

The man thinks back to all his other battles, all featuring Vulpix considering she is his sole pokemon. In their repeated battles against Brendan and the occasional wild pokemon around Littleroot, one thing stood out.

Vulpix had _never_ lost. She won every single battle handily.

' _Damn it all! Why is this getting to me? We're going to have to show our hand with the pyrokinesis and telepathy if we want to level the playing field. I thought I came to terms with this a month ago,'_ Lee thinks to himself with gritted teeth. He looks between the smiling Zinnia, the chanting crowd including Brendan, and his now laser-focused Vulpix. _'Fuck me...'_

"Alright, sure," Lee grounds out, ignoring Zinnia's smile becoming absolutely feral. "1v1? Vulpix is my only pokemon."

"Hell yeah!" She says.

The surrounding people spread out as Lee and Zinnia take their places opposite each other on one of the hard-packed dirt battlegrounds. Lee takes the time to inspect the area.

' _Ground is good and even. Grass surrounding is still a bit wet with dew, so there is a minimal chance of a fire. Negligible breeze. Everyone is a fair distance away...'_ Lee lets out a breath. _'About as even as battlegrounds come. Alright, here we go. David versus Goliath.'_

"You're up, love," Lee says a little redundantly as Vulpix leisurely strolls into position. "Get ready."

Above, the sun's rays rapidly grow to sweltering as Vulpix's Drought activates. Several of the spectators murmur about the sudden heatwave and a number of them close to the Pokémon center stepped back into the shade. Lee rubs his stinging scars with a frown and tries to ignore it.

Zinnia grins and holds up a pokeball before rearing her arm back. "C'mon out Bagon!" She cries, throwing the ball skyward.

In a flash of light, a large Bagon materializes on Zinnia's side. The tiny, iron-headed dragon slowly scans over the field before his eyes land on Vulpix. The eyes narrow and a growl builds in his throat.

Vulpix lets out a condescending yawn in return, making Bagon growl just a bit louder.

' _Thank you God or Arceus or whoever the hell is out there. If Zinnia sent out a Salamence I would've had a fucking stroke_.'

The same older teen that was reffing Brendan's matches comes over to the edge of the ring, glancing between the two fire pokemon with equal parts caution and excitement. "One on one match between Lee's Vulpix and Zinnia's Bagon?"

Lee glances around, fighting the urge to bite his lip. All the other battles concluded and everyone is watching them. Even a few members of the construction team stopped to watch the spectacle.

"Are both trainers ready!?"

"Ready!" Zinnia replies with a grin.

' _Time to bite the bullet.'_

"Ready..." Lee reluctantly confirms.

The ref chops his hand down. "Begin!"

"Bagon, Smokescreen!" Zinnia orders without wasting a second.

The tiny dragon takes a deep breath and shoots a blinding cloud of rolling, oily smoke from his mouth, instantly covering the ring with a wall of black.

Lee grimaces and withholds the Babydoll Eyes order he was about to call out. He brings a sleeved arm up to cover his mouth and nose while widening the mental tether between himself and Vulpix. _'Keep some focus on my location, love. It'll help you stay oriented in the smoke. Be ready to counter at a moment's notice.'_ He sends, getting a quick confirmation.

"Now! Headbutt!" Zinnia orders. Hardly a second later, there is a throaty roar and the sound of tiny feet thundering across the ground.

"Vulpix, dodge!" _'To the left.'_ Lee calls into the smoke. _'Not going for a projectile? Trying to play to Bagon's high Attack then'_

With a loud crash, Bagon lands right where Vulpix was a second prior with the resulting shockwave blowing much of the smoke away. Just a few meters to the left, the small vixen stands awaiting an order, eyes locked onto the swiftly standing Bagon.

"Bagon, Dragon Breath!" Zinnia orders.

"Vulpix! Dodge and use Confuse Ray!"

Vulpix is in motion before Bagon can take a breath to charge Dragon Breath, swiftly leaping to the left nearly to the edge of the ring as her eyes glow with a sinister light.

"Nice try!" Zinnia calls. "You're not the first to try and play keep-away with Bagon! Hold Dragon Breath and use Protect! Then slow her down!"

A barrier of green blooms around Bagon just in time. The surface ripples slightly as the invisible Confuse Ray impacts it.

Then just as Vulpix lands from her leap, Protect drops, and Bagon stomps on the ground with a single leg.

Lee's chest suddenly clenches when the ground under Vulpix vibrates like a jackhammer was taken to it, making her yowl in pain as her bones rattle in her body. Vulpix even trips and falls to the ground, taking a shot to the skull that leaves her dazed just as the tremors end. Lee flinches when the vague phantom pains she feels reverberate through his own body.

The crowd roars at the direct hit. Faintly, Lee can hear Brendan's Mudkip let out a bellow and Brendan himself shouting; "C'mon Vulpix! You can take em!"

' _What the fuck was that?! Earthquake?! No, it didn't rock the whole field, it was just under Vulpix. Shit shit shit! C'mon, girl, you can do it. Get up!'_

Vulpix rises to her paws in a flash, shaking her head to clear it. She focuses on the smugly smirking Bagon with a withering gaze. The slight shake in her limbs is noticed by all who look.

' _What to do, what to do? Was that Bulldoze? Whatever it was, it really hurt her'_ Lee grimaces. ' _Love, circle to the side then hit her.'_ He sends, then says aloud; "Vulpix, close the distance with Quick Attack and then Payback!"

Vulpix's legs hesitate for a second before she rockets forward, wreathed in a corona of white flecked with bits of purple.

"Got ya!" Zinnia cries with a grin. "Bagon, let loose that Dragon Breath!"

Bagon blasts a writhing beam of green energy out of his mouth right at the charging vixen, who looks as if she is going to run right into it.

' _Now!'_

Zinnia's grin falters.

Vulpix skids to a stop and circles to Bagon's broadside a fraction of a second before the Dragon Breath can envelop her, trading her white aura for purple.

**Crash!**

Bagon coughs out a pained wheeze when Vulpix slams into him at full speed, Payback on full blast to repay the hit from earlier. The dragon is thrown to his side where he impacts the ground harshly, digging a short trench in his wake

"Now! Confuse Ray point blank!"

"Oh no, you don't!" Zinnia shouts. "Bagon, Protect then Bulldoze!"

Bagon grunts. A barrier of green comes down over Bagon again just as Vulpix's eyes light up, trapping Vulpix inside with Bagon.

Lee's eyes bug out of his head. _'What the fuck?! Protect can do that?! Vulpix...'_ Lee struggles to think of a plan. _'Damn it! How do we dodge an attack that comes from under with such limited room?'_ Then he blinks when a wild idea sprouts into his head. _'Bound between the walls of the Protect! Don't touch the ground!'_

Vulpix drops Confuse Ray and processes the command in an instant, leaping above Bagon's head just as the reptilian pokemon raises a foot to slam on the ground. She jumps against the green barrier of Protect, her little paws making almost no sound, and jumps back and forth above Bagon.

Zinnia gasps. "Bagon wait!"

The foot slams into the ground, and Bagon tries to hit Vulpix with Bulldoze, only for the tremors to erupt from right under him instead.

Bagon cries out as the Bulldoze erupts under him rather than his opponent, The cry of surprise turns to one of pain when the harsh vibrations travel up through his body and rattle him from toe to skull. Vulpix lands from her leaps just as Bulldoze ends and leaps away when Protect drops.

Hope blooms in Lee's chest and Vulpix's own excitement feeds it over the telepathic tether. _'She's on the ropes! We can win this!'_

"Oh jeez..." Zinnia's earlier confidence falters somewhat in the face of the unexpected turn. She balls her hands. "Bagon! Use Dragon Rush!"

' _Use_ _ **what?!**_ _'_

Bagon growls and steadies himself, his hateful eyes locked on to Vulpix. A swirling corona of violent, crackly energy engulfs his form as he lowers his steel covered skull to deliver a blow that would knock over a building. His legs tense for an absolutely explosive charge

"Absolutely not!" Lee barks. "Vulpix, Confuse Ray!"

With a vulpine smirk, Vulpix's eyes shine for the third time this match.

"No no no! Bagon, stop Dragon Rush and use Protect!" Zinnia yells out.

Zinnia's order comes a second too late, as Bagon's squinting eyes shine the same violet color as Vulpix's from within his shell of draconic energy. The small dragon groans, his face screwed up in intense focus. Around him, the curtain of swirling energy flickers and begins to destabilize. Bagon tries to charge forward despite his trainer's order, but trips and crashes into the ground with a tooth rattling explosion as his Dragon Rush destabilizes totally.

When the resulting smoke clears, Bagon is collapsed and limp upon the ground. Vulpix steps closer to her fallen opponent with curiosity, reaching out a paw to prod him.

' _Oh my god, we actually won...'_

Then Bagon's eyes snap open.

"Nice trick, but we're not going down that easily! Bagon! Give her the Bite-n-Bash!" Zinna yells, her grin back in place.

Bagon surges to his feet in a flash and lunges towards the shocked still Vulpix, his jaws snapping shut around her extended foreleg like a steel trap.

Vulpix _screams_ and claws of ice dig into her trainer's stomach.

Then like a toy being abused by an uncaring child, Vulpix is slammed into the ground over and over by Bagon, who throws his head around as if the vixen's weight was non-existent. Every slam makes Vulpix's struggles grow weaker.

Lee bites back a cry and chomps down on his lip so hard he tastes blood when his arm is hit with stabbing phantom pain, quickly followed by a headache and the sensation of being wailed on in the ribs.

Just like what was happening to Vulpix.

"V-Vul..." His breath catches in his mouth and he can't force more out. _'Vulpix! Ember! Fire Spin! Anything! You have to break his hold on you!'_

The vixen blearily processes Lee's command, but before she can do anything, Bagon throws his head up and opens his jaws, letting the flailing fox in his teeth fly up into the air. She flys up and hangs for just a moment, though to Lee every inch she travels through the air feels like a year.

Then she starts to fall.

With a savage cry, Bagon slams his iron-like skull into Vulpix when she falls back into his reach, making a dull _crunch_ on impact.

Lee's suddenly two-fold headache is totally forgotten when he watches Vulpix bounce limply across the ground, coming to a stop almost at his feet a bloody and battered mess.

Bagon rears his head back and roars his victory to the heavens before he begins to glow a blinding white. The roar deepens as his body grows, morphing into a sphere upon four legs. When the light fades, a Shelgon stands in Bagon's place.

The crowd is silent for a second, then two, then three...

"Vulpix is unable to battle!" The teen acting as the ref yells. "The winners are Shelgon and Zinnia!"

The crowd cheers and a giddy Zinnia runs to hug her new Shelgon, but it's all lost to Lee as he stares at his Vulpix, his lifeline in this world, broken and limp. _'It's exactly like Mu-.'_ He shuts his eyes and forces the bile in the back of his throat down. _'Pokemon are tough. Supernaturally tough. She's okay. She's okay..._ ' He thinks to himself, only half believing his own words.

Lee reaches for Vulpix's pokeball in a stiff, mechanical way. At his muttered; "Vulpix, return," his vixen is pulled into the ball as a beam of red light.

"Man oh, man! That little cutie is really tough!"

Lee turns to his left, Seeing a beaming Zinnia and the battered Shelgon at her side. "I knew Bagon was on his way to evolving, but I thought it would take weeks to get there. Vulpix was a great opponent to be able to get him there in one go."

Shelgon grumbles something behind his namesake shell that sounds like a vague agreement.

The praise given to Vulpix eases the scarred trainer's stinging pride some but does nothing for his still rolling stomach. "Thanks," Lee grounds out, crossing his arms and looking to the side. "If she were conscious I'm sure she would appreciate it." An instant later he internally kicks himself for the rude tone.

Zinnia's grin falls some. "Yeah, uh..."

Lee sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "Look, sorry for being kind of short. I just want to get Vulpix checked into the Pokemon Center after that last move on her. She's never been... hurt that badly before."

The dragon trainer crosses her own arms and tilts her head. "Don't tell me you've never lost before?" she asks with an amused scoff. "She'll be fine after a bit with the Pokemon Center. Don't be a baby."

Lee's hand clinches around Vulpix's ball so hard his knuckles turn white.

"Oh man Vulpix actually lost?! I never thought I'd see the day!" Brendan skids to a stop by Brendan and Zinnia. "That match was great!" He exclaims before turning to Zinnia with a raised brow. "Kind of dirty of Bagon to pretend to be down only to launch an attack, though. If he got up and was fair, Vulpix would have had that."

Zinnia scowls. "What?!"

"You heard me!"

The tanned woman scowls a little harder and butts into Brendan's personal space. Brendan simply holds his ground with his head held high. "There was no call yet so why did Vulpix step closer?"

Lee screws his eyes shut and sighs, begrudgingly admitting to himself that Zinnia has a point no matter how much he dislikes it.

"It's not sportsman-like!" Brendan shoots back, now frowning himself. "It was a cheap shot!"

Zinnia laughs and ruffles Brendan's hair through his hat, making him pull away with a; "Hey!" She smirks. "Kid, how do you think pokemon battle in the wild? They fight until someone is down and out. There are no 'cheap shots' in a no-holds-barred battle. I don't think using Confuse Ray over and over is very sportsman-like either."

Brendan takes a breath to retort but stops when Lee places a hand on his shoulder.

"Brendan, it's fine." Lee starts, making both Zinnia and Brendan look at him in surprise. Jesus, it's only midday and he's already exhausted. "She's got a point, no matter how much I don't want to agree. Vulpix and I made a mistake and paid for it. We'll not do it again." The words sting his lips like acid.

"But-!" Brendan stops short and huffs when Lee shakes his head.

"Good battle, Zinnia," Lee says with a shallow nod to the bewildered Zinnia before turning to Shelgon, who had been watching the proceedings silently. "Congrats on your evolution, Shelgon. We're out."

Lee turns, not taking his hand of Brendan's shoulder so the boy turns with him, then both start towards the rear entrance of the Pokemon Center. As they leave, Lee can feel Zinnia's ruby-colored eyes on his back.

' _Fucking hell,'_ Lee breathes out tiredly as he and Brendan walk. By now, most of the spectators had dispersed, giving them a straight shot inside. _'Don't but such a pussy, Lee. You've seen it first hand and crunched the numbers when you didn't trust your eyes. Vulpix, no, pokemon in general are out of this world when it comes to durability. She's fine. She won't be like-'_ He violently cuts off the train of thought and snakes a hand down into his jacket pocket, where Vulpix's warm ball reassures him of the life inside. _'She's fine.'_

"Shelgon, return! Wait up!"

They get several steps in before Zinnia calls for them and catches up with a few quick steps. The tanned woman stops in front of them with an unsure look upon her face and her fists clenched. For a few seconds, the three stand in silence.

"Yes?" Lee ventures, trying to break the oncoming awkwardness.

Zinnia tries to say something, but seconds guesses herself and closes her mouth. Then she takes a breath. "Okay, maybe that last move was a little overkill," she mutters, looking away and unclenching a hand to rub her arm. "I thought you were some stuck-up hotshot from the scars and all, and I've got this mission my tribe that I have to do no matter the cost," she says with a sigh. "I sometimes forget that most trainers train pokemon for sport and not all-out battles. I'm...sorry," she grumbles, looking down at the ground.

' _Mission from her tribe?'_ Lee wonders with a frown, not recalling much about Zinnia other than her Dragon-based team. _'Dragon-something right? Draconids? What was their thing again?'_

"Y-Yes. I'm from the Draconid Tribe _._ How did you know?" Zinnia asks, seemingly caught flat-footed. Her surprise swiftly turns to suspicion as her eyes narrow into ruby slits. "Our tribe isn't well known, and you don't look like you're from Hoenn..."

Brendan looks up at him with surprise as well.

Lee blinks and Brendan laughs. "You got that 'did I say that out loud' face on. You gotta work on that."

The scarred man curses inwardly, this time taking great care to not let his mouth move as he tries to come up with an explanation. "Well, uh. Dragons are pretty rare and..." he hesitates, trying to string his thoughts into something coherent. "When you said you're part of a tribe, the only Dragon trainers from a tribe I can recall are the Draconids. I found a footnote about them during some research I was doing. Um... Brendan and I work with Professor Birch, you see."

"A footnote in what book?" Zinnia presses.

"It was in...'Of Scales and Fire: Dragons and Dragon Tamers'," Lee rattles off, hoping the fake name sounds authentic.

Zinnia hums to herself and backs off. "Sounds interesting. I might have to look it up sometime. I wasn't aware anyone bothered to write about us," she says with a knowing smile, making Lee's spine stiffen.

' _Not even one Gym into the circuit and my secret is almost certainly blown. I'm so fucked.'_

_**GROWL!** _

Brendan yelps and leaps behind Lee, who just freezes at hearing the monstrous sound. Zinnia...

Zinnia blushes and puts a hand over her stomach. "A-Ahaha... I dunno about you two, but some lunch sounds great. Let's get Vulpix checked in and go."

* * *

"No way! That was _actually_ your first loss ever?!" Zinnia's eyes are wide in disbelief, her meal going ignored for a moment.

After handing over Vulpix's, Mudkip's, Shroomish's, and Shelgon's pokeballs to Nurse Joy in the partially repaired Pokemon Center, the trio of trainers made a short walk to a Oldale's only bistro, a quaint place run by a family, just several minutes away from the Pokemon Center on foot. Lee would have stayed and waited for Vulpix's recovery if it didn't leave Brendan alone with Zinnia. Lee could feel Zinnia's eyes boring into him each step of the way, but she did not pursue her earlier questioning. Sitting down and ordering was a simple affair, and of course, talk turned to the battle less than an hour ago.

Lee sighs and leans back into his chair. "Yes. Yes, it was. I've been a trainer for a grand total of about a month and a half. Don't rub it in please," he mumbles, looking at his and Brendan's empty plates then back to Zinnia's 3rd which is rapidly emptying. _'Where does she put it all?'_

The Dragon trainer gulps down her latest bite to answer. "I wasn't about to make fun of you. That's some crazy growth for just being a month into your career. You and Vulpix battle like you've been doing it for years," she says, pausing to finish her meal of rare-almost raw steak and green beans. The food vanishes in three large, rather unladylike bites before she sighs in satisfaction. "I was given Bagon when I turned sixteen almost three years ago and he's no pushover. Both his sire and dam were top-level Dragons and he was close to evolving to boot. Shrimpy there," she points to Brendan, who looks decidedly sour at being called 'shrimpy' "wasn't wrong when he said Vulpix almost won. It's got me curious about you..." Zinnia puts her hand on her chin and leans forward. "What's your secret?"

Lee blinks. "My...secret? I don't understand."

The Draconid woman hums to herself. "Yeahhhh. Likely story," she says with a snort. "That trick Vulpix did when trapped in Bagon's Protect. Most Pokemon would panic without a trainer command, yet she got up and out of the way perfectly. That's not something a rookie pokemon does on their own."

"I've been wondering that too," Brendan chimes in, looking between Lee and Zinnia. "There have been times me and Lee would battle, and Vulpix would just jump into action sometimes. I figured she was just smart and Lee was letting her do her own thing, but the wall jump thing in Protect..." Brendan's eyes stop on Lee, asking for an answer.

' _Shit, she's sharp. I guess it was too much to hope she thought my voice was lost in the commotion.'_

"That's... Not something I'm willing to answer without Vulpix's input on the matter first," Lee replies carefully, testing each word in his mouth before letting it go. "What you're asking for concerns her too, and I can't give the info if she doesn't want to."

Brendan mulls it over for a moment and groans. "That means 'I'm not telling you' doesn't it?"

Zinnia's brows rise in obvious surprise before falling again. "Huh. Not what I was expecting... buuuuut it makes sense." Then she smiles. "If that's your answer, it really helps me make up my mind."

"Make up your mind on what?" Brendan asks warily, leaning back at her sudden exuberance.

"On whether or not I'm coming with you two or not, duh," she says with a bright grin.

Lee and Brendan exchange glances. "Don't _we_ have to make that call?"

"You can," Zinnia says with a nod. "I'm following regardless," she finishes with a clear laugh. "You, Mister Lee, are too interesting," she says, standing pointing at the bewildered man. "You say you've only been a trainer for a month and some change, but you battle like a pro, you _know things_ , and your pokemon is freaky powerful. I need to grow stronger for my mission to the Draconid Tribe, and I get the feeling hanging around you is just the way to do it!"

"Alright alright!" Lee hisses as people begin to stare at their table. One kid even points before his mother stops him. "Just sit down and stop yelling. We'll discuss everything later."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Brendan whines.

Zinnia beams.

* * *

"Here you are, Mister Henson. Your Vulpix," Nurse Joy says, handing Lee a single warm pokeball with a smile. "I would recommend a day or two of only light training before returning to full activity. The bite on her leg did some considerable damage, but nothing that won't heal."

Lee throws an ugly look towards Zinnia, who is on his left. "I said I was sorry!" She squawks.

He just shakes his head. "Right, C'mon."

The pair head to the mostly restored lounge near the entrance of the Pokemon Center, where a number of trainers and pokemon gather into small groups. Overhead, a radio plays some tinny pop song through old speakers. Lee looks around, marveling over the fact that yesterday this room was a burnt husk but was now deemed safe enough for people and pokemon again. The smoke smell was even gone.

' _Gotta hand it to those League workers. They don't mess around.'_

Along the far wall a long padded bench runs the entire length, seating a number of people, Brendan being one of them. At the young trainer's feet, his now fresh looking Mudkip and Shroomish voraciously eat some of the Center provided chow from a pair of bowls. Brendan looks up with a smile when the older trainers come close.

Lee sinks down next to Brendan, his eyes firmly glued to Vulpix's ball. With a feather-light tap, he presses the button and the ball explodes open in a flash of light.

Vulpix materializes in his lap and blinks the stars away from her vision, looking up to Lee with soulful brown eyes. In the back of Lee's mind, he can feel Vulpix's mind prodding for access. He lets her in without a second thought.

Lee blinks away a sudden prickling of tears when he feels her sharp and aware mind again, not her pain-filled and barely conscious one. He hugs the vixen close, the feeling of her whole and unbroken body a balm to his frayed nerves.

Vulpix cuddles herself to her human, her curious vulpine purr rolling through her chest. A thin tendril of thought extends from her, letting her see exactly how he fared in her absence.

Not well.

She wraps Lee's mind in her own, and then...

**I am well.**

**You are well.**

**All is well.**

All the stress in Lee's body flows out like a full basin with the drain opened. The tension holding his shoulders and back rigid leaves, letting him lean back into the wall behind him with a sigh, holding Vulpix all the while.

Zinnia watches the sight with a smile. "You really were worried about her, weren't you?" She asks, sitting next to Lee and resting her elbows on her knees.

Lee nods into Vulpix's head tuft. "If something happened to her, they'd have to put me in the nuthouse," he replies, his voice muffled by the warm fox he's hugging.

The Dragon trainer's smile takes on a strained, almost bitter look. "It's crazy how that works, huh?

' _...?'_

Lee pulls his head up enough to see Zinnia's face before her smile returns to a genuine one. "So, intrepid leader. What next?"

The scarred trainer files Zinnia's words for later and thinks. "Wait. Intrepid leader?"

"You _are_ kind of the leader, Lee," Brendan chimes in, Returning both his pokemon to their balls in flashes of red. "Didn't you say you had a route worked out already?"

"Well, yeah," Lee says, pulling his head up from Vulpix all the way, and the vixen looks up as well. "But that hardly makes me the leader here."

"Sounds pretty leaderly to me," Zinnia says, her smile growing.

"Same!" Says Brendan, also smiling.

Lee rolls his eyes. "Sounds like you two are lazy and just want me to do the work here." When neither denies the accusation, he shakes his head. "We're going to go into town, stock up on supplies, then we can either get on the road tonight or wait until morning considering it's..." Lee pulls his flip phone from his pocket and glances at it. "Almost 3 pm already. Up to you two. Either way, we'll head west via Route 102 to Petalburg which is several days away on foot."

Zinnia hums. "I say let's go today. How 'bout you, shrimpy?"

Brendan scowls. "I'm not shrimpy! For that, I say we stay the night!"

"What? We've got like five hours of light left, that's a good chunk of travel!" Zinnia protests.

"Well, I say we stay anyway!" Brendan says, crossing his arms and turning away.

Zinnia growls "You little..!" she flexes her hands as if about to throttle him

Lee drags a hand down his face. "Of course they'd argue...Oi!" He says, getting the attention of both Brendan and Zinnia. "Flip a coin or something. Don't act like children. I swear to god I'll turn this journey around."

Vulpix just gives a scratchy, vulpine laugh from Lee's lap at his misfortune.


	8. Intermission 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief respite turned lesson from an outsider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> Peepee poopoo more shitty story 4 u

* * *

_After resupplying and saying their goodbyes in Oldale, Lee, Brendan, and Zinnia set off onto the road after deciding to leave the same day. The heatwave of the week prior had finally subsided, allowing the trio to shorten their break at noon for more progress. After the sun had vanished over the horizon, they would build camp and rest for the night, often training and socializing before bed. Three days of progress saw them a mere part-day outside of Petalburg, leading to now, the end of the third day in a darkened forest clearing._

* * *

Above a crudely outlined battlefield in the grass, a ghostly ball of fire illuminates the dark surroundings, showing Brendan and Zinnia staring each other down in the middle of a heated battle.

"Swablu, duck!" Zinnia franticly cries.

A raging Watergun narrowly misses the flailing bird pokemon, instead crashing into a tree behind her and stripping chunks of bark clean off with a _rip crack!_ from the force. Across the makeshift field, Brendan's Mudkip bellows in anger at the miss.

"Again!" Calls Brendan.

Unfortunately, Swablu is caught by the rapid follow-up. The blast of water is like a sledgehammer to her small body, throwing the bird to the ground where she crashes with a shrill cry.

Alongside the makeshift battlefield, Lee, Vulpix, Brendan's Shroomish, Zinnia's Shelgon, and Zinnia's final pokemon, a small Goomy, all watch. Lee is seated on an old log with Vulpix on his left. Shroomish sits at his feet while Shelgon stands with Goomy atop his shell.

Or rather all of them sans Vulpix are watching. Vulpix sits with her eyes closed, focusing on maintaining the hovering ball of flame above the battlefield to give the fighters enough light to work with. The sun has long since set, and Lee came up with the exercise as a way to kill two birds with one stone. The fighters get light, and Vulpix gets to practice.

Goomy's tiny body shudders as he looks at the savagely grinning Mudkip, who waits for Swablu to struggle to her feet. The little dragon burbles and chirps something with a shaking voice.

Under Goomy, Shelgon rumbles something that eases Goomy's trembling.

Lee glances back to the campfire, where a large pot of stew he's making for dinner simmers over a fire grate. _'Probably only a few minutes left on that,'_ he thinks to himself before pushing his thoughts outwards. _'Hey, love? Any idea what Shelgon said to Goomy?'_

The fiery werelight above the battlefield wavers some, but Vulpix quickly stabilizes it and reaches out to him.

_Fear._ She sends an image of Goomy with Mudkip in the background.

_Reassurance._ This feeling comes with an image of both Shelgon and Goomy.

' _So Shelgon was reassuring Goomy that he'd protect him from Mudkip then?'_ Lee asks, looking between Mudkip and the still unsteady Swablu. _'Not surprising. The Goodra line is pretty passive with Sliggoo as the exception, and Mudkip is downright monstrous sometimes. He's going to be a force of nature as a Swampert,'_ Lee sends back, thinking about yesterday when Goomy and Mudkip had clashed.

Even with Zinnia's superior skill as a trainer and Goomy's resistance to water attacks, Goomy was swiftly felled by Mudkip's sheer aggression.

Now it looks like Swablu was about to lose to Mudkip as well.

"Swablu! Circle around and use Take Down!" Zinnia orders, a note of frustration to her voice.

The bird pokemon arises back into the air on her cloudlike wings, quickly zipping around to Mudkip's flank before enveloping herself in a shining cloak of white energy with a furious trill.

Mudkip, already used to fighting opponents faster than he thanks to countless bouts with Vulpix, quickly pivots to face his attacker.

"Meet her head-on with Tackle!" Brendan orders.

Lee winces and closes his eyes. A second later, there is a bone-rattling _thunk!_ as Mudkip and Swablu met head to head.

"Swablu!"

Mudkip's throaty, victorious bellow tells him exactly who won.

Lee feels something prod his knee and cracks open his eyes. Looking down, he sees the ever-dour looking Shroomish, who regards Lee with lazy eyes.

Just a week in Brendan's care has done wonders for the little mushroom pokemon. His once dry and cracked skin now has a dull, moist luster to it and his body filled out to a size more appropriate for his species. The boy trainer's care had an even greater effect on Shroomish's personality, as the little mushroom is heinously slothful and gluttonous, but would (reluctantly) rise and fight at 100% if Brendan commanded him. The lazy eyes of Shroomish wander off of Lee and over to the campfire.

Lee follows his gaze to the pot still simmering over the fire. Even now, after mostly recovering from his starvation, Shroomish still has a fixation with food, but Lee finds it hard to blame him. "Ah, it's probably done. Thanks, little guy."

Shroomish just replies with a wet grumble and follows when Lee stands to take the pot off the fire.

As he takes the sets the pot down off the grate and fishes in his bag for the set of bowls he bought back in Oldale, a very happy Brendan and Mudkip swagger up followed by a much more sour Zinnia, who cradles her barely conscious Swablu. She stops off to the side and pulls a Potion from her own bag to treat Swablu before returning the bird to her ball to rest. Vulpix retakes her usual spot stop Lee's shoulders after letting her fireball lantern fade.

"Sooo, anyone learn anything new tonight?" Lee ventures as he ladles out a bowl and sets it down for Shroomish, who digs in before it even cools.

"Mudkip learned Foresight tonight," Brendan replies with a grin, gladly accepting the bowl of hot stew and the spoon given to him. He quickly gulps down a spoonful only to almost spit it back out from the heat. He forces it down and pants to try and cool his mouth before continuing. "Usually a Mudkip will get Foresight and sometimes Bide down right before they evolve, so I think he's close!"

Mudkip raises his head from his own bowl and gives an excited cry in agreement.

Lee rubs his chin and inspects Mudkip. Indeed Mudkip learned Foresight, as when Swablu used Mist earlier in the battle, she began to pick away at Mudkip from the safety of the lowered visibility before his eyes began to glow. Following that, he knocked Swablu from the air.

Mudkip's skin in the last few days had begun to lighten in color like a Marshtop's, and the middle prongs from Mudkips gills had begun to lengthen, showing everyone versed in the Mudkip line that he had only a short time before evolution took hold.

"Already?"Lee wonders to himself aloud, idly ladling another bowl out and handing it to Zinnia, missing her words as he thinks. _'It's never really explained in the anime or games what sort of timeframe the adventures take place in. For such a huge change I would have figured it takes, well... longer. All the research I've poured over says it can take years for a pokemon to evolve. I fully expected inconstancies, but...'_

A pair of fingers snapping in is face pulls Lee from his thoughts. He looks up to see a pair of ruby eyes staring at him.

The hand not holding an empty bowl rests on her hip as Zinnia raises an eyebrow. "Did you hear a word I said? You were staring into the fire awful hard."

Lee looks around, noting all the pokemon were in the process of eating. He lets out a short laugh and smiles sheepishly. "Sorry, I was lost in thought there."

Zinnia rolls her eyes and blows a lock of her hair from her face before flopping down next to him. "You do that a lot, you know? I said do you have any idea what pokemon you're getting next? If we're going to Rustboro first, I think you'll want something other than a fire type to challenge Roxanne."

' _I do, in fact. If I remember correctly, Ash got his Treecko from the Petalburg Woods. Once we get back into civilization I can check online and see if any poke-watchers have spotted any Treecko in the area. A little unoriginal of me, but why fix what isn't broke?'_

Lee can feel a flicker of irritation from Vulpix for the unintentional slight, but he just shushes her wordlessly. He sits, careful not to jostle Vulpix too much, and digs in his pocket, withdrawing his Pokedex. Taking the little device out of sleep mode, he scrolls over to the 'notes' function. Near the top of his list of 'potential additions' is Treecko. "I have it on good authority that there is a Treecko colony somewhere in the Petalburg Woods. The Treecko final form, Sceptile, is a fast attacker with fairly balanced physical and special attack attributes and the ability to learn rock and fighting moves to ward off pokemon with type advantages," Lee says with a grin, already feeling a boyish excitement over the prospective capture. "Sceptile's array of cutting attacks also makes it an excellent tank-buster with the ability to carve through defenses easily in a scenario where time might be critical. A Treecko would provide a great hard-and-fast offset to Vulpix's more methodical style."

Zinnia blinks and even Brendan looks over with surprise, making Lee flush some. "What?"

"You really thought that out," Zinnia says, hugging one of her legs and resting her chin on her knee. She smirks and says nothing else.

Brendan shakes his surprise away before grinning with stars in his eyes. "Hey, Lee! What pokemon should I get next?" Brendan asks, sitting close and pulling out his Pokedex. "I was thinking maybe, uh," he pauses for a moment then snaps his fingers when it hits him."Oh! A fire type because then I'd have the basic trio of elements, right?"

Lee sighs and makes himself comfortable. Vulpix noses his cheek, but her quick exhale and the mental tether makes her amusement clear as day. "I already know you're not going to stop pestering me, are you? Before asking 'what type', ask 'what role does my team need', then proceed to type. Type is important and all that but more often than not a poorly optimized but filled role is better than not having it filled at all. For example..."

Brendan hung upon each word, and although Zinnia's eyes were on the fire, Lee had her ears.


	9. Lee's Logs 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If there is anything that can stir academia, it's newcomers who dare to make waves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> Enjoy(?)

* * *

" _Day two of being a trainer. Or is it day one? We'll call it two. I've finished giving Vulpix as good a physical as I can without tools or monitoring equipment. She is within the acceptable standards of a canid her size without much significant deviation, her internal temperature and muscle density being the only significant outliers. More on that later. I didn't bother with much cognitive or any intelligence testing. Vulpix was alert and aware during the physical even if she was bored to death. Any intelligence test I could have given would have been outright demeaning to her and easily solved. Suffice to say she is smarter than most of the people I know and probably smarter than myself as well."_

_The sound pauses for several seconds._

" _Let it be known that the crafty fox is still susceptible to a well-placed belly rub and her heart of gold taking pity on hopeless humans. Vulpix's muscle density is incredible. She's like a wall when her muscles are tensed and I know for a fact she is much physically stronger than I pound for pound, and probably just outright stronger than myself or anyone of similar size despite the weight difference. I'll need actual equipment and not just hand-n-eyeball estimates to be sure. Her skin temperature seems to be around one-hundred ten Fahrenheit. Utterly feverish for a person, but very comfortable for her. I don't have an accurate gauge for internal temperature, but just from feeling her breath, I can estimate somewhere close to...At least one-hundred-fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Again, doing this without tools so actual numbers may vary. I'll probably do another physical if Vulpix is feeling up to it in a week's time to confirm these estimates. Lee, out."_

* * *

" _Log two, day seven. I've finished Vulpix's second physical, this time aided by equipment I've acquired from the local Pokemart. The results of the physical are in line with my prior observations. Her average skin temperature is one-hundred-twelve point four degrees Fahrenheit, with internal temp resting at about one-hundred-eighty one point seven, both in the average range of the Vulpix line according to my research. Once I devise some tests, I'll be giving her supernatural strength a tryout to get some baselines."_

" _While I am satisfied with her current health, her ongoing health I am still planning for. One thing I've found lacking is store-bought pokemon food. The 'league recommended' brands all have a serious lack of nutritional information available, some only giving estimates while others use 'an optimal blend of meats, veggies, and berries' as some sort of sidestep. I don't trust like that. I would not feed any animal in my care something I myself would not eat, and I'm sure as hell not trusting Vulpix's health to something that cannot even give me an ingredient list. I've made full preparation to produce her food myself. If Vulpix is an omnivore like mundane vulpines, and I'm sure she is, then her diet plan should be an easy build."_

" _...Don't look at me like that, love. I mean 'diet' in a nutritionist sense, not a 'you're overweight' sense. You're as fit and beautiful as they come and I want you to stay that way."_

" _Anyway, we were training outside with Vulpix's moveset earlier. We've made good progress on tightening the spread of Ember, which I suspect will be Vulpix's main projectile attack until she learns Flamethrower. Even then, Ember should be a good fallback in the event that Flamethrower becomes too energy-consuming from some reason, like in a long battle. Strong foundations and all that. I have noticed something odd, however. Like most fire pokemon, Vulpix launches her attack from her mouth, taking a short time to charge before actually shooting. Although she breathes in to charge, her exhale is inconsistent with the potency of the attack, Ember, in this case."_

" _I've found a surprising lack of information on pokemon physical training regimens outside of the obvious 'battle a diverse range of pokemon'. Why? I have no idea. I'll have to adapt something for Vulpix. An obstacle course or something? Eh, it's a start."_

" _We also battled Brendan and his starter, Mudkip today. Despite his type advantage, Mudkip found himself defeated by Vulpix. I admit I was... reluctant to be aggressive during this battle to Vulpix's ire. I guess I still have a few old hangups about animals being harmed. Mudkip's swift recovery definitely sets my mind at ease. I forgot just how hardy pokemon are. Anyway, that's it for now. Lee, out._

* * *

" _Log three, day... Which day again?"_

" _Vulpix Vul!"_

" _Right, right, day eighteen. I meant to do this log earlier, but so much has happened recently that I sort of lost myself in the excitement. A lot is going on, so I'll try and condense this down to the main points. The_ _ **main**_ _main one? Vulpix's pyrokinesis."_

" _I can scarcely believe it. A fluke of observation and a vaguely recalled reference from a fake Pokedex entry lead to this. I've searched far and wide, through books and the internet, but the reports of the phenomena seems limited to legends of ancient Ninetales on out-of-date occult websites. How no one has discovered this, I have no idea. I'm suddenly thinking the secondary fairy typing of the Alola Ninetales may apply to the usual Vulpix line as well, at least in part. I'll how to put in some more research in order to learn how to test this. As for practical use, it took several days of meditation and attempted practice for us to realize how much of a willpower and emotional component there is to the pyrokinesis. Vulpix can focus as hard as she likes, but if she doesn't_ _ **want**_ _it, then nothing will happen. I sort of expected a more, I dunno, structured activation, but this lends some credit to my minor fairy typing theory. Vulpix, with the appropriate motivation, can induce spontaneous combustion on flammable materials. Tests with a laser thermometer find that the combustion truly is spontaneous, as there is no discernable heat source being applied to the test media, yet the temperature rapidly rises to ignition when Vulpix so wills it. Testing with her move set is still ongoing, but with the sharp improvement to Ember and Fire Spin's power and accuracy, it's obvious Vulpix is already applying what she's learned to her techniques. Proud of you, love."_

" _Vul!"_

" _Moving on. I'm still experimenting with Vulpix's diet. The first few rounds made a solid base but proved a bit lacking in calorie count. I failed to account for Vulpix's supernatural abilities, high brain activity, and training meaning a higher rate of calorie burn. My original mix consisted of a base of 85/15 ground beef and eggs for protein and fatty acids, wild rice for carbs and starches, diced carrots, broccoli, peas, and cauliflower for fiber and a medley of vitamins and minerals, a few slivers of supplements for anything I missed, and finally a few pinches of spices for taste. Certainly better than the premix garbage, right love?"_

" _Pix!"_

" _Heh. I started by giving her about one and a half cups a day divided into two meals, about six-hundred calories worth total. When she began to tire the next day during training, we went up to two cups, roughly nine-hundred calories. Again, she began to tire out about halfway through the day. Three cups was better, but Vulpix still petered out early. That's when it hit me. At first, I was worried and thought I was doing something wrong, as the helpings I was giving her were much larger than the premix servings she was eating, so I began to research berries as a potential way to overcome this. At the same time, I upped Vulpix's meals to four and a half cups a day, over two-thousand calories, doubtful she could eat it all, yet she did so without any discomfort. Shows I've still got a lot to learn about pokemon..."_

" _Anyway, I suspect that normal premix food is a huge helping of carbs for energy with some supplements thrown in to meet minimum nutritional requirements, as it's the only way I can explain Vulpix being able to function a full day on a smaller amount of food. Vulpix certainly hasn't protested the menu change, so we'll stick to it and see. Lee, out."_

* * *

" _Log four, day twenty-five. It's only been a week or so since my last update. Vulpix's pyrokinesis continuously makes small but steady improvements. The newfound control of her fire means Vulpix can fire her Embers in a thin stream or a wide cone. She can even control the trajectory of the Embers after they've been fired. Actually manifesting flames still seems beyond her, but I'm certain we'll figure it out and be inventing new moves soon enough."_

" _Vulpix is still responding well to hand-made food. Her performance is showing noticeable improvements now, as she broke her previous best time on the rudimentary obstacle course I made for her by a full second. She's also gained about an eighth of a pound, but I could not feel any formation of fat on her body when I felt for it. I'll keep an eye on that, but I have doubts that its unhealthy fat gain considering her daily exercise. I did alter her diet a tiny bit after I made some headway on my study of berries."_

" _Berries must be some sort of miracle material, as their properties simply boggle my mind. If what various sources I've looked into are correct, Oran promotes bodily homeostasis with a jolt of near-instantly digested energy and acts as a mild, non-addictive pain killer on top of being naturally antibiotic, antiviral, antiseptic, and sweet on the tongue."_

" _Pardon my french, but that is fucking bonkers. If the Oran existed back home, it would be hailed as the end-all, be-all natural cure for everything from being ugly to stage-4 cancer."_

" _But the Sitrus berry makes the Oran's ability look like a common party trick. I didn't believe what I read at first and had to look around to other sources to make sure someone wasn't pranking me. One bite of Sitrus induces_ _ **full-blown cellular regeneration**_ _. Not cell division, actual regeneration of dead and damaged cells and the spontaneous generation of_ _ **new, healthy cells**_ _at a rate I want to call impossible. I can't even process that. That's...Look, professor, I know these logs are for you, but holy shit I need to get my thoughts down. That is so fucking insane to me, it quite literally is a miracle. I'm not a terribly religious man, but that kind of thing fucks with you... It also explains the obscene price tag on some berries. Almost ten grand for a single grade A Lum berry? Kiss my ass."_

" _Okay, okay, on with the relevant stuff. After making sure mixing Oran with other foods didn't cause some sort of strange reaction, I've been adding Oran slivers to Vulpix's food. They're well mixed in to promote a gradual release of the enzymes responsible for their special properties. I'm hoping the added Oran promotes muscle recovery post-training and mental acuity for her pyro powers. That's it for today. Lee, out."_

* * *

" _Log five, day thirty. All the shit with Team Rocket and Ash has concluded and I'm sitting in bed. We got our first taste of combat with a high-leveled pokemon, no matter how brief it was. Even delirious, Pikachu proved himself to be a real danger. His Thunderbolt nearly fried Vulpix even with telepathy cutting order and reaction time to almost nothing."_

" _Oh yeah. Recently, Vulpix and I have been taking advantage of the Vulpix line's minor psychic abilities and have been practicing to incorporate telepathic communication into our style. Telepathy is... Strange. There are no words, just urges and feelings. After recalling yet another gamedex entry, I had Vulpix read my mind when we first met so she could verify my story. That's where her heart of gold showed and she decided to help me rather than leave the crazy human and take off. Ah, right there. Love, don't contort your pretty face with that frown, I can feel your anger just fine. I know you would never leave me. So, back to the battle. Issuing a command and strategizing via telepathy is_ _ **infinitely**_ _faster than doing so verbally. Something I've found is that I can 'overshadow' Vulpix in a manner. I can plug myself into her senses in a minor way, see what she sees, hear what she hears. I can't exert any control over her, nor would I want to, but I can add my focus, my emotion to her, magnifying her powers. Some might see this as profoundly intimate, but I've already laid my soul bare to her before, and she didn't find me wanting then. If I was ever so close to anyone, I'm glad it's Vulpix."_

" _I'd say more, but... I'm tired. I'll try to update again soon. Lee, out."_

* * *

" _Log six, day thirty-fi- no, thirty-six. The clock just struck midnight. I'm tired as all hell so we'll keep this short. Brendan and I had our first real crisis today. A pissed Manectric blew out the entire Oldale Pokemon Center's electrical system and triggered a huge fire. Vulpix and I ran into an unexpected weakness in her pyrokinesis while helping to put out the fire. We tried to pull the oxygen away from the flames to extinguish large areas at once. It simply kept slipping. Vulpix and I opened our telepathic channel as wide as we dared and I added all my brainpower to hers, but still manipulating the oxygen escaped us. In a desperate bid, we tried pulling the flames away from the Center and then releasing control, and to the surprise of both of us, it worked. The previously flaming area was left fire-free, so I had Brendan and Mudkip soak the spots we put out to stop re-ignition. Using that method, we helped the fire department put out the external fires, which left the still burning inside. Officer Jenny and her Azumarill were taking their sweet time, having rushed in to evacuate any people or pokemon still trapped. After mulling it over, Vulpix and I went inside._

" _I gotta admit, seeing all the fire reminded me off... a less pleasant time, but Vulpix and I powered through. We found the previously mentioned Manectric cornering Jenny, Azumarill, and a Center intern in the egg nursery."_

_Professor, this Manectric had to have been tall enough to look me in the eye. Cracking fur, enraged eyes, the whole nine yards. This was not a fight a battered Azumarill and Vulpix could have won. I was convinced for a moment we were about to die, as Manectric clearly had no problem attacking humans considering Jenny had electrical burns. Then Vulpix noticed the intern was clutching an Electrike egg and informed me that Manectric was female."_

" _A pissed mom. I've unfortunately run into these before. I know this is what you're wanting most, professor, so I'll try to be detailed."_

" _She wasn't thinking clearly and zeroed in on me, now the largest thing in the room. I averted my eyes and slowly lowered myself in a way most canines would recognize as submissive. Being careful to not bare my teeth, lest she taking it as an act of aggression, I spoke in a soft voice, informing her that she was superior in this situation and that we acknowledged that she was wronged by the theft. Thankfully, she knew English and/or was able to read my tone and eased herself down a little more with every assurance. The intern was reluctant to give me the egg, saying it was slated to go to Professor Sycamore, but potential death via electrocution convinced her to make the smart choice. I set the egg down at a halfway point and let Manectric inspect it. She apparently found everything to her liking, as she took the egg and left without incident."_

" _The Mayor of Oldale was nice enough to get Brendan and myself hotel rooms for the trouble, now if you don't mind, I need some fucking sleep. Lee, out."_

* * *

Nigel Birch leans back into his chair in his office within the Little Root Lab, staring at the ceiling with his mind running a million miles a minute.

Less than two months. In less than two months his newest lab trainer, a man displaced through dimensions, has shed light on several mysteries and probably kickstarted new fields of research.

Why has no Vulpix before displayed these powers? Does the Vulpix line actually have some fairy in them? And using telepathy mid-battle? _Sharing senses?_ Psychics all over said it couldn't be done by anything less than a Legendary using brute force. It was impossible. Humans and Pokemon were just too different in their mental makeup, and yet...

"All from looking at things a little differently..." Birch mumbles to himself, still lost in his own swirling thoughts. Then the final log jumps out at him again.

' _Lee should be dead.'_ Birch can't bring himself to say it aloud. A single bead of cold sweat runs down his brow. ' _Manectric are vicious, unpredictable pokemon at the best of times. A mother out to recover a stolen egg? She should have attacked. All logic says she would be on a warpath.'_ Birch lets out a shaking breath _. 'Being submissive, is that all it takes? No. There has to be more to it. Lee took an extraordinary amount of caution, but most pokemon would just see it as a useless platitude.'_

Birch looks out the window in his office, watching a small formation of Tailow fly by.

"Lee, what did you do differently?" He murmurs aloud.


	10. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A crisis after another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.  
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.  
> 

* * *

"Not ringing any bells at all?"

Shroomish glances around the well-beaten path leading into the shaded Petalburg Woods, his eyes lethargic but never totally stopping. He looks up at Lee and shakes his head with a grumble, making the man's shoulders slump some. On his shoulders, Vulpix noses his cheek.

To Lee's right, Brendan shrugs in his pokemon's stead while Zinnia advances a few steps and stares into the gloom of the woods. "It was worth a shot, at least," Zinnia comments as Brendan returns Shroomish to his ball. "Petalburg woods does have a huge Shroomish population after all," she finishes.

Lee and company had briefly passed through Petalburg on their way to Rustboro, just long enough to top off their supplies but not long enough to truly see anything important. Lee himself was sorely tempted to visit Petalburg's large Pokemart, one much more impressive than Little Root or Oldale's but held off, reasoning that Rustboro's would suffice.

"Old fashioned way, then," Lee says with a sigh. He starts towards the trodden path with Zinnia falling into step with him. "Keep an eye out. Vulpix? Could you scan around with your telepathy as we walk and see what you find?"

"Vul," She confirms, her eyes already glowing dully.

"Well, how hard could a whole Treecko colony be to find?" Brendan asks, folding his arms behind his head as he follows a step behind the pair of older trainers.

Zinnia hums to herself for a moment. "Pretty hard, I'd think," she chimes, "Treecko are rare pokemon, so I'mma guess they're really good at hiding from nosy people." She's silent for a moment before asking; "Say, why are we doing the gym route this way? Wasn't there a gym in Petalburg?"

"Yeah," Brendan says with a scoff. "But the Petalburg Gym Leader is Norman Maple, one of my dad's old friends. He's a Normal-type specialist and one of the toughest gym leaders in Hoenn. It's a good call to skip him and come back later. Roxanne, meanwhile, is a newer gym leader without any evolved pokemon yet. Me, Mudkip, and Shroomish will wipe the floor with her, and I'm sure Lee can pull a win even with just Vulpix."

"Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall," Zinnia smirks. "Real confident, aren't you?"

"Roxanne has barely a fifty percent win rate. Of course, I'm confident."

The dragon tamer shakes her head, smirk still in place. "That's how you end up on the losing side of that win rate, shrimpy."

Brendan scowls, but Lee jumps in before he can start an argument with Zinnia. "She's got a point, Brendan," Lee says, looking around as the forest canopy begins to envelop them in darkness. "A fifty percent win rate means she's still regularly sending trainers packing. She might have some sort of strat or hidden gimmick to her style. Don't tempt fate because fate _will_ fuck with you if you do."

The boy grumbles to himself but doesn't argue any further.

As the three follow the beaten dirt path deeper into the forest, the tree-cover thickens until their sole illumination is shafts of golden sunlight that shoot through the few holes in the canopy like spears. The whisper of the wind through the dense trees plays a gentle, natural melody with the sounds of the wildlife. Above, the sound of Taillow chirping and flitting through the branches contrast with the scattered cries of distant Poochyena. In the distance, a pair of Beautifly flutter soundlessly through the air, passing a patch of sunlight and vanishing behind a thicket, leaving behind tiny, glittering wing scales in the light that settle to the ground. A tree filled with nothing but Seedot watches the three trainers pass by as a pair of Nincada on the trunk scuttle away.

"It's like something right out of a fairy tale," Lee breathes quietly. He glances at both Brendan and Zinnia, neither of whom seem as impressed as he with the Petalburg Woods. _'Of course, they're not impressed. This is normal for them.'_

But for all the wonderful sights the woods afforded, there is no Treecko to be found even after two, almost three hours of walking.

Finally, Zinnia calls for a timeout. "Alrighty boys, I think it's time for a break," she says, stopping the party. She glances up to one of the shafts of sunlight. "It's probably one PM or so, in other words..." She grins. "Lunchtime!"

"You've been snacking as we've been walking this whole time," Brendan deadpans. "How are you still hungry? You can try and hide that jerky under your cloak and pretend you're slick all you like, I've seen you."

Silently, Lee agrees with him. Zinnia... isn't the subtle type.

Zinnia smiles, her ruby red eyes filled with mirth. "Peeking in my cloak, eh? Why Brendan! You just need to ask if you want to see anything~!" she flares her cloak out behind her and strikes a provocative pose.

Lee can both see _and_ feel Vulpix's frown of disapproval.

"You keep the front open all the time. That doesn't exactly hide anything, thot." Brendan rolls his eyes. He yelps when Zinnia stalks forward and pinches his cheek.

"You can at least humor me," Zinnia hisses through a tight, not-so-amused smile. "Lee? Are you teaching him words like that?"

Lee wisely looks away. "Kids these days..." He mutters, trying to hide his smile.

All the pokemon between the three trainers are released in short order as the group settles under a large tree for a short lunch. After Zinnia releases Brendan, that is.

Brendan sits and crosses his legs as he rubs his smarting cheek with a pout. Under his breath, he mutters about "stupid dragon ladies who can't take any banter." Mudkip pats his knee with a low croak, trying to offer some comfort. The boy trainer smiles down to his starter and gives him a rub on his smooth head, making the mudfish pokemon smile and lean into the touch.

"'Least you and Shroomish are on my side, pal," Brendan smiles at Mudkip and turns to look at Shroomish, only to spy a food bowl with no Shroomish.

"Oh shoot!" Brendan shoots to his feet, almost throwing Mudkip off and making the entire group jump. "Where did Shroomish go?! Hey! Shroomish!" He calls into the woods, hands cupped around his mouth. Mudkip joins a second later, bellowing out loudly into the woods.

Lee follows Brendan's eyes to the food bowl, instantly noting the food left as he stands as well, stuffing the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth and hurriedly gulping it down. "No need to freak out, Brendan. He's not a fast pokemon, he couldn't have got far," he says, throwing his trash and Vulpix's empty bowl into his bag.

"Swablu, fly up and see if you can find the little mushroom!" Zinnia orders as she gets up herself, her usual playful expression gone in favor of a more serious face. She swiftly returns her quivering Goomy to his ball, but the ever stoic Shelgon remains out.

The little bird pokemon responds with an affirmative trill and quickly rises up as high as she can without being lost to the overhanging canopy.

"Vulpix," Lee begins as the vixen takes her usual spot on his shoulders. "Can you psychically scan around and see if you can find him?"

She nods, her eyes already glowing before she closes them in concentration. A moment later, she shakes her head, feeding Lee a feeling of futility through their mental channel.

_Too many. Too similar. Overlapping._

' _Well shit. I hope Swablu has a sharp eye then.'_

Vulpix growls lowly in her throat, some of her self-disappointment bleeding through to her trainer.

' _Love, don't think like that. It's just an area to grow and improve in is all,'_ Lee sends back, reaching up to stroke her furry cheek. _'We'll have you baffling actual Psychic-types with your skill before you know it.'_

The vixen leans into the hand, the disappointment stemming in favor of contentment.

"Shroomish already indicated that he didn't know the Petalburg Woods at all, so where could he have wandered off to?" Zinnia wonders aloud, pulling Lee and Vulpix's thoughts back to the current crisis. "I don't really see anything worth running off for around here." She states, her lips pulling down into a frown.

Brendan's hands ball up as he looks all around him, his face contorting into the beginnings of fright. "You don't think he was taken, do you?"

' _Right here, in front of all of us?'_

"I don't think someone snagged him right under our noses like that," Zinnia says, crossing her arms as she shakes her head. "He probably just wandered off. It's a big forest, after all."

"Wandering away from his lunch?" Brendan asks, shaking his own head. "No way. He would eat until he bursts if given the chance. I have no idea what could drag him away from his food."

"Swaaaaaaa!"

The three trainers and their pokemon look up as Swablu flys back into view, chirping incessantly as she lands on a high branch. The bluebird hops to a further branch and looks at them, seemingly waiting for them to follow.

"See shrimpy?" Zinnia says with a smile. "Swablu found him."

The trainers and pokemon follow at a brisk pace behind Swablu as she leads them down a thin path through some undergrowth. As they walk, Vulpix raises her nose and sniffs the air. After a moment, she pokes Lee's mind with her own and offers the scent she found.

' _Jeez, that's almost overpoweringly sweet, even second-hand,'_ Lee sends back as he pushes a low branch away. His nose tingles from the phantom sensation. _'What could it be? Did Shroomish wander away for this scent?'_

When the group bursts out of the thick brush, they all find themselves in another small clearing.

At the far end, a content Shroomish sits next to a bush where several Pecha berries hang. All the lower branches of the bush are devoid of any berries, making the pink stains around the little mushroom's mouth very telling.

Brendan breathes a sigh of relief at seeing his pokemon fine and in one piece. He walks ahead of the group and picks up Shroomish, who doesn't protest at all. "Did you really have to scare me like that, pal?" Brendan asks with a sigh. "I thought something happened to you..."

Shroomish seems to come out of his food-coma and blinks, grumbling something in his wet voice.

Lee glances over to the vixen on his shoulder. "Any idea what he said? I still can't read plant faces."

Vulpix yawns.

_Remorse. Insincere._

"Figures..."

"I'm guessing Shroomish isn't sorry?" Zinnia guesses, glancing between Lee and Vulpix.

Vulpix answers her with a simple nod.

Zinnia and Shelgon stroll up to the bush Shroomish was feasting from. The young woman plucks one of the higher berries off and pops it into her mouth, her face lighting up. "Wow, I totally understand why he wandered away," she says through her bite of berry. "Natural Pecha is just as good as they say." She takes another one and offers it to Shelgon, who turns it down.

Lee follows shortly and grabs a pair. He bites down on one and gives the other to Vulpix, who snaps it up and gladly eats, her fan of tails wagging.

' _Oh man, that's... not bad,'_ Lee thinks. In just a few chews the soft berry is little more than a sweet paste that goes down easily. _'I was expecting it to be disgustingly overpowering from the scent... Or does your nose make it seem overly sweet to my human senses?'_

Vulpix declines to answer in favor of licking her chops to get the last bit of Pecha flavor.

"Either way, we'll save a few of these just in case something around here knows Poison Sting or something," Lee quietly finishes verbally, grabbing a few of the Pecha and tossing them into his bag.

Without warning, both Shelgon and Vulpix tense up. From Vulpix, Lee feels _something_ he has no name for, but the feeling makes his spine tingle.

Zinnia notices Shelgon's sudden stillness. "Shelgon? What wrong?" Zinnia wonders aloud.

Above, the leaves shake and _something_ darts into view.

All eyes turn to a tree branch above the Pecha bush, where a... a...

Lee blinks when he comes up with no answer. 'The fuck is that thing?' he wonders, reaching for his Pokedex.

On the branch sits a crow-like bird nearly three feet tall, coated in metallic blue and black feathers. Its eyes, a bright red, look between the Pecha bush and the still pink-stained Shroomish with a narrow stare. Its talons knead and tear the wood branch below it as if the wood were paper mache.

Brendan beats Lee to the punch and pulls his Pokedex out first, pointing it at the mystery bird. The Pokedex comes to life with a beep. _"Corvisquire, the Raven Pokemon. Corvisquire are intelligent, Flying-type pokemon native to the Galar region. They use their impressive intellect to use tools both in battle and in everyday life. As a result of many harsh battles, Corvisquire are masters of gauging an opponent's strength."_

Lee racks his brain. _'Galar? Was that the new region in the Switch games? I never got to play those! Why the fuck is this pokemon in Hoenn?'_ Then the last part of the dex entry hits him. ' _Masters of gauging an opponent's strength?'_ Lee looks back up at Corvisquire, the pokemon's facial expression and ruffled feathers give away how furious the pokemon is, and the murder in it's eyes for Shroomish is all too apparent. _'Vulpix and Shelgon sense something amiss, then this pokemon comes and thinks it can take on a Shelgon, a Vulpix, and a Shroomish?'_

"Oh shit."

That's all Lee can get out before Corvisquire dives down at Brendan and Shroomish, talons poised to shred both of them.

"Quick Attack!"

Corvisquire banks away just as Vulpix blasts through where he would have been, the vixen missing him by just inches. Vulpix bounds off a tree in her path and leaps back to Lee's side in a single jump. The bird pokemon circles back around in the air, malice-filled eyes now locked onto Vulpix.

Lee uses the instant to glance around. _'Cramped clearing with a ton of foliage to catch fire. Gotta be careful with Fire moves. If we try to run to a new place to fight, Corvisquire will have free reign to attack us in the back as we move through the underbrush. Corvisquire is fast and can move in three dimensions freely, making great use of the limited room. If he's as intelligent as I think he is, then we'll need to pull out all the stops. Not good...'_

"Brendan, Zinnia, back up!" Lee calls to his friends, making them look at him. "It's too cramped for all three of us to fight. Let myself and Vulpix handle this."

Before either can protest, Corvisquire lets out a bone-rattling _"Caw!"_ and charges Vulpix again, flying in tight, expert zig-zags.

"Baby-Doll Eyes!" Lee calls. He glances back at Zinnia and Brendan. "Move!"

Zinnia grabs a protesting Brendan and pulls him away, back towards the edge of the clearing. Shelgon takes a stance in front of the trainers, sparks of green trailing his form, the telltale sign of a ready Protect.

Vulpix's eyes light up pink and focus on Corvisquire, casting a gentle, eerie light in the darkened woods.

Corvisquire falters mid-air as his muscles slacken against his will, but he recovers rapidly and turns away mid-air, his wings now glowing white. With an echoing cry, the raven pokemon shoots a barrage of starry rays at Vulpix with a downward flap of his wings.

' _Shit! Swift!'_

"Intercept it with Ember!" Lee cries. Mentally, he reaches out to Vulpix and lands in her waiting psychic grasp. _'Ready up Quick Attack as well. We'll blitz him as soon as Swift is taken care off'_

With nary a second to charge the attack, Vulpix exhales a stream of tiny fireballs, each one screaming through the air with flyers swerving into Swift's path thanks to her pyrokinesis. The stars and fireballs explode with jarring pops and cracks when they meet, and the instant the last star is gone, Vulpix is in motion.

Corvisquire's eyes widen and he almost manages to barrel roll out of the way of the speeding vixen. Instead of the clean dodge he tried for, Corvisquire is still clipped against his side, sending him spiraling out of control toward the ground.

Vulpix lands against the side of a tree paws-first, still wreathed in her coat of Normal energy.

' _Again.'_

She blasts off the tree, flying towards the falling Corvisquire.

The edges of the raven's beak suddenly upturn in a parody of a smile, then he shoots his wings out and he corrects his flight as if he never lost control, shooting straight up and out of Vulpix's way.

Both Lee's and Vulpix eyes widen _'Shit! Vulpix!'_

The fox twists mid-air and cancels Quick Attack, landing roughly and awkwardly on her paws, but Lee can still feel the pain that shoots up her legs. Hovering above, Corvisquire laughs mockingly in scratchy caws.

' _So he wants to play like that, huh? On my mark, love.'_ Lee frowns. "Two can play at that game. Vulpix, Will-o-wisp!"

Vulpix opens her mouth and charges a white-hot ball of flames. It's so hot, that even from several yards away, Lee grimaces and turns his head when his scars begin to sting.

Corvisquire's mocking laughter stops as he watches Vulpix warily. When the Will-o-wisp shoots past him, missing entirely, Corvisquire just laughs harder.

He never notices the ball of fire do a perfect one-eighty turn and shoot back at him twice as fast. Both Brendan and Zinnia gasp behind Lee.

Corvisquire's laughter quickly turns to agony when Will-o-wisp crashes into his back and engulfs him in flames. The raven writhes mid-air and plummets to the ground where he bounces once and stops. As quickly as they came, the flames burn out, leaving Corvisquire with a gruesome burn across his back.

Lee's hair stands on end as his own burns flare with phantom pain. _'Were we too rough?'_ He wonders. Vulpix is quick to give him the psychic equivalent to a jab in the side and pull his attention back to the battle.

Corvisquire's red eyes shoot back open, now filled with utter _hate._

' _I guess not...'_

The bird's face contorts into an absolutely nightmarish visage, his entire face _filled_ with bloodlust as he stands.

Vulpix's frame stiffens and her mind prickles with growing fear. Unnatural fear _not her own_.

' _Was that Scary Face?'_ Lee wonders. Either way, he's quick to smother Vulpix with warm waves of adoration like she often does from him, pushing the fear away. It takes only a second for the vixen to relax again and return his affection.

Corvisquire's frightful face drops into confusion at seeing Vulpix _smile_ of all things before morphing back into anger. The bird grimaces when ruffling his feathers pulls at his burns, but he none-the-less takes to the sky again, moving and flapping his wings as if he weren't burned at all.

' _What a tough son-of-a-bitch. No wonder he came in here so confident. He's definitely not normal.'_ Lee sends to Vulpix, who physically nods. _'Here he comes!'_

Corvisquire dives like he's about to attack, but instead swoops out of reach. He calls out a long, taunting note and shakes his tail feathers as he circles around.

Again, feelings that don't belong to Vulpix invade her mind, this time a horrid rage that simmers just below her skin. She looks back at Lee with a growl, her body shaking as she almost begs for an attack to be called.

Like last time, Lee pulls on her mind. _'Vulpix, love. Snap out of it! He used Taunt on you! Don't fall for it!'_ He tries to soothe her as best he can, and slowly Vulpix's anger calms. Her growls quiet and her shaking stops.

Above, the raven lands on a branch and looks as flabbergasted as his bird face will let him. Taunt failing truly threw him for a loop.

' _I think I get how he fights...'_ Lee sends to Vulpix, both of them carefully watching Corvisquire. _'He uses speed and misdirection to get his foe to make mistakes, then he jumps in and punishes said mistake. His inability to make you mess up is throwing him off. If he were against a slower opponent or one who does have outside help to shake off mental effects...'_ Lee's mind goes to Zinnia and Brendan's pokemon. Shelgon and Mudkip might have the power and mental fortitude to go toe-to-toe withCorvisquire, but their poor speed would be their undoing. Shroomish, Goomy, and Swalbu would be outright overwhelmed. _'We're the best to fight him. We just need to run the clock on him as his burn will wear down his ability to fight the longer this goes on. Keep it up.'_

Corvisquire apparently decides the lull in fighting is over and _vanishes._ An instant later, he's upon Vulpix with his beak glowing white. Vulpix can't even flinch before she's stabbed over and over on her face and side. She yowls in pain and breathes a tongue of flame out in an instinctual attack, but the blue and black raven blurs out of reality again, leaving her attack to miss.

"What the fuck?!" Lee cries, looking all around only to see Corvisquire coming a second too late. He swoops down as little more than a flicker and stabs Vulpix over and over once again in a near-invisible Fury Attack. The vixen tries again to attack with a short blast of fire, but Corvisquire is gone yet again.

Vulpix pants and stands on shaky legs. Her sides are a mess of lacerations and stab wounds that slowly bleed, turning her orange coat a deep red. Her eyes scan around, but her avian foe is nowhere to be found.

' _Shit shit shit! He's just going all out! He must know he can't drag this out with a burn!'_ Lee tries to pull back his panic, but even Vulpix's slowly hazing mind can recognize her trainer's distress, making her stand taller.

Just in time for Corvisquire to divebomb her.

Coming down through the canopy, the bird pokemon lets out a terrible screech and lands on Vulpix's back, throwing her down and knocking the wind from her. His beak glows white, then he launches his Fury Attack like a jackhammer, pelting Vulpix's back, making her throw her head back and scream with each stab.

' _No no no! Not again! You can't get hurt, not out here!'_ Lee tries to move but is frozen. He shuts his eyes and _reaches_ for her, widening their channel more than ever before. He grits his teeth past the echos of Vulpix's pain the widened channel brings and focuses. _'Focus on my voice, love. We're forcing him off now!'_ Lee screws his eyes shut and pours everything he has in the next words.

" **Fire Spin!"**

Vulpix's eyes snap open, glowing an impossibly bright orange.

The clearing erupts into flames.

Lee opens his eyes, hearing nothing past the thunder of his own heartbeat. His mouth slowly drops open.

All-round Vulpix and Lee, a whirling twister of pure fire easily thirty feet across is borne from seemingly nowhere. Corvisquire screeches as he's dragged into the twisting, towering inferno that burns through the canopy. The fiery winds throw the bird pokemon around ruthlessly, burning him with another screech each time he bounces off the almost-solid tornado of fire. At the top of the Fire Spin, the smoking, long-since unconscious Corvisquire is carelessly flung out into the distance.

Yet, Lee's scars don't react at all to the heat. He isn't even warm. He looks down, seeing a perfect circle of grass around him untouched by the flames.

_She would never hurt you._

A glow even greater than the fire draws his attention.

Just a few yards away, Vulpix, standing tall even with her wounds, looks at him with unblinking eyes the same color as Hell itself.

Slowly, the Fire Spin dies down, revealing the now burnt-out clearing. Fire Spin had turned everything it touched to ash instantly, leaving nothing in its wake.

Vulpix's eyes return to their soulful chocolate color. A second later, she sways on her feet and falls to a sitting position where she pants, total exhaustion radiating from her form.

"Holy shit..." Lee looks around at the devastation. Thankfully, it looks like the sheer intensity of the Fire Spin burned out everything without starting a wildfire. Looking up, he sees a perfect circle burnt in the trees above.

'Wait...'

"Brendan! Zinnia!" Lee whirls around, spotting the green dome of Shelgon's Protect at the edge of the once clearing. At Lee's voice, the dome drops, revealing a panting Shelgon, dumbstruck Zinnia, and ecstatic Brendan. Shroomish is nowhere to be found, but Lee spies his ball on Brendan's belt.

"That was the absolute coolest!" Brendan yells, running to Lee and kicking up soot with every step. "I've _never_ seen a Fire Spin so powerful before! How did Vulpix do that?"

Lee lets out a relieved half-laugh and takes his backpack off, opening it to pull his Potion out. "She's just strong. Stronger than even I realized," he says, stepping closer to Vulpix. She barely seems to acknowledge him past her exhaustion but stands on shaking legs so Lee can get at all her wounds.

Zinnia and Shelgon follow shortly after. Both just watch Lee give each of Vulpix's wounds a generous spray of Potion before Zinnia finally speaks up. "You know, some warning would have been nice," she says, tone even. "If not for Shelgon, shrimpy and I would have been toast. Very burnt toast at that."

Lee can only shrug as he looks up to her unusually stoic face. "Sorry. I trusted Shelgon to pop Protect if needed. I don't think any of us expected that pokemon to be so strong as to require that. I know I didn't." He takes a moment to reach in his bag for a water bottle and a cleaning rag, then pours some water over Vulpix's now closed wounds and wipes away the blood in her coat as best he can. "I don't know if that's how all Corvisquire fight, or if he was trained. I know Corvisquire are not naturally found in Hoenn either way."

The dragon tamer doesn't reply and instead looks in the direction that the Corvisquire flew in. "Should we go check on it?"

"We probably should," Brendan says with a nod. "If he's owned, then his trainer needs to take responsibility for Corvisquire attacking us. If not... That might be an even bigger problem."

Lee puts his Potion and water away, instead drawing an Oran from his bag that he offers to Vulpix, who scarfs down the berry and quickly perks up with the burst of energy it gives. "How is that a larger problem? A potential invasive population?" Lee questions.

Brendan nods. "Yeah. If there is a population moving in, then we gotta tell the League so they can be relocated back to, where was it again? Galar?"

"Good luck," Zinnia begins, she pulls Shelgon's ball from her cloak and points it at him. "Excitement is over, rest for a bit pal," with that, she returns Shelgon back to his ball and turns back to the boys. "Galar is good and far away. They're not too open to outsiders either."

Brendan frowns and crosses his arms. "Well if they have a League presence, then they gotta respond. C'mon!" The boy turns and begins to walk.

Zinnia shakes her head and follows after.

Lee looks down at Vulpix, who looks dog-tired in her blood-stained, ruffled fur, but she still hops to Lee's shoulders and settles down for a nice nap. The man just runs a gentle hand through her head-tuft with a smile and turns to follow his friends.

After only ten minutes or so of walking, Lee smells something that immensely makes his shoulders tense up.

Smoke.

"Do you smell that?" Brendan asks, his jovial face falling into a rare serious look. He takes another deep breath and fingers Mudkip's shaking pokeball. "Smells like smoke."

"Not again," Lee groans, rousing Vulpix from her short nap.

The trio of trainers pick up the pace, running through the underbrush and bursting out into a dried out clearing. In the center of the dusty clearing.

"Wow..." Zinnia murmurs, no smart remark to make.

Brendan just nods in awe.

Lee blinks to make sure he's not seeing things and even the tired Vulpix across his shoulders opens her eyes wide.

In the center of the clearing is the largest tree any of them had ever seen. Easily hundreds of feet tall and as wide around as a house. It stands so far up in the sky that it blots out the sun for everything in its shadow and utterly towers over the other trees.

However, the tree is bare of leaves and shriveled at the roots, clearly dead to any who look upon it. It also leans to the side to a notable degree, looking precariously like it might fall over.

' _This monster must have been even bigger alive,'_ Lee thinks to himself. _'How did we not see it from the entrance of the woods?.. Have I seen this tree before?'_ His thoughts are cut off when the wind shifts and he once again smells smoke.

At the base of the tree, the unconscious Corvisquire from earlier lays. Above it is a smoldering indent in the wood just large enough for the Corvisquire to fit into. It's almost like...

' _No way. Did Fire Spin really carry him all the way out here with enough force to damage the tree too?'_ Lee thinks, trying to calculate how _forcefully_ Corvisquire was thrown to do such a thing. He comes up with a ballpark number that just seems insane.

Brendan throws Mudkip's ball. "Mudkip! But out the smoldering spots before it can burn up the rest of the tree!"

Mudkip materializes from the pokeball with Watergun already charged. With a wet gurgle, he blasts water into the Corvisquire-shaped divot and puts out the embers there with a hiss.

Vulpix's ears twitch, making Lee look over to her.

"Ko?"

Lee looks further past Vulpix at the sound. All around are a number of Treecko watching Mudkip put out the scattered smolder bits in the tree. Some large, some small, some youthful, others not so much. That's when Lee finally realizes where he's seen this tree before.

' _This is the tree that Ash's Treecko refused to give up on. He wanted to live here even after it died.'_

The scarred trainer looks around among the Treecko, his eyes settling on a young, surly tree gecko holding a twig with a single leaf in his mouth. His yellow eyes rest cooly on Mudkip, but they flicker over to Corvisquire for brief moments with barely contained disdain. For a moment, Lee is tempted to challenge the little Treecko, knowing full well how powerful he would become as a Sceptile. _'That would fuck up Ash's team though. I can't do that..._ '

Mudkip puts out the last spot and turns to Brendan with a happy croak, making Brendan grin back. "Nice job, pal!" He reaches a hand down that Mudkip gladly hi-fives. The pair turn and finally see all the gathered Treecko. "Told ya we could find them, Lee!"

Zinnia looks at the mass of green lizards as well. "Gotta hand it to you guys. You never half-ass anything, do you?"

_Grrrrooooooaaaaaannnnnnn!_

_Crcrcrcrcrack!_

Everyone in the clearing, the Treecko included, go still at the sound.

"Was that what I think it was..?" Zinnia asks, sounding afraid for the first time since Lee has met her.

"Please no..." Lee whimpers.

Brendan hastily returns his gaping Mudkip to his ball and turns to run.

Everyone looks at the great tree. Along the divot where Corvisquire inspected, wide, arm-sized cracks run horizontally along the tree, growing larger by the second. The great tree groans and the ground shudders. Every sound makes the twig-chewing Treecko's face twist in pain.

_Crrrrrrrrrrr_ _**rack!** _

With a crack that made all the onlookers jump, the tree begins to topple over. _Right at them._

Lee stands dumbstruck as the tree grows larger and larger with its descent until a panicked Vulpix bites his ear and snaps him out of it. He turns and begins to run out of the mammoth tree's path, hot on Zinnia and Brendan's heels as the Treecko all scatter with frantic cries.

He glances back for just a moment and feels his insides twist.

Corvisquire _is still knocked at the base of the tree out and about to be crushed._

Just fifty feet behind them, the twig-chewing Treecko had fallen to his knees in the panic and refused to get up, instead staring at the approaching tree with both heartbreak and acceptance.

Lee's feet stop, even as his brain screams that he can't save them.

' _Or... Or can I?'_

He shares his plan with Vulpix over their telepathy, but the vixen just urges him to _hurry up and run!_

Lee reaches to his belt where his pokeballs all hang. The first one belongs to Vulpix. The others? Empty. Grabbing two of them, he presses the buttons on both three times, feeling them both buzz afterward.

' _Return function is three presses, right?_ _Shit I hope it's three presses. I should have read the manual closer. If Corvisquire is owned then he's done for! Please work please work please work!'_

Both balls are thrown from his hands, then Lee turns tail and runs, following Brendan and Zinnia to safety

The first ball flies to the distant Corvisquire, and Lee's aim is true, as the ball taps the bird and sucks him inside. The ball doesn't even wiggle before it beeps, signaling a capture. Then as if by magic, the ball leaps off the ground by itself and rockets back towards the still running Lee.

The second ball hits the almost comatose Treecko, who is sucked inside without even moving. The ball falls to the ground, wiggling back and forth as if it didn't care about the falling tree. Back and forth, back and forth, all as the tree looms closer.

Lee looks back just in time to catch Corvisquire's ball. He hisses and shakes his stinging hand from the impact, his eyes zeroing in on the ball with Treecko inside. _'Please just give in to it! I can't let you be crushed!'_

Finally after a pain-staking seven seconds, Treecko's ball beeps and goes still. A second later, it lifts off and rushes to Lee, escaping the tree with inches to spare.

The enormous piece of lumber crashes into the ground with a sound like thunder and a hundred times the fury. The ground rumbles like an earthquake hit and the plume of foliage and dirt the felled tree kicks up can only be described as cataclysmic. The cloud of dirt rushes up into the sky like a biblical dust storm, blotting out the sun until it begins to settle. Countless bird pokemon all over the woods take to the sky, startled by the unearthly noise.

The three trainers and Vulpix stand for a moment, all of them covering their faces until the dirt settles. Lee feels something bounce off of him and assumes it to be Treecko's ball.

"Everyone okay?" Lee questions, blinking open his eyes.

Brendan grumbles and dust himself off. "Yeah, I'm good."

Zinnia runs a hand through her hair and dislodges as much dirt as she can. "Never a dull moment around here. I could use a shower, though."

Lee sighs. "We all could," he says.

Vulpix hops down from her shoulder perch and shakes herself out. The addition of the dirt with the dried blood in her coat makes the poor vixen look miserable. Her face is kept cool, but her displeasure is easily felt by Lee.

All three look at the devastation caused by the massive tree. It fell into the forest proper and destroyed countless smaller trees in its path, making a huge mess of broken wood and leaves. The sight makes the hairs on the back of Lee's neck stand up. A look at Brendan shows the boy is feeling the same just from his expression alone, while Zinnia seems more contemplative than anything. Her eyes scan over the devastation with a level of familiarity that is disquieting.

Lee rolls the pokeball of his new Corvisquire around in his hand and stops. _'Wait. Where is Treecko's?'_ He scans the ground, finding the ball under so leaves and dirt. Picking it up, he dusts it off and looks at the pair.

' _From one to three in a single afternoon. I've got a lot of planning to do. I... I could release Treecko for Ash...'_ Lee bites his lip. ' _It would make it easier for me to only have to integrate one new pokemon...'_ The longer he thinks on it though, the more of a non-option it seems. ' _No, the timeline is already fucked beyond repair with the early destruction of the Treecko tree. Trying to fix it will just invite even worse trouble. People will ask questions, Zinnia in particular. I'm sorry, Ash, but it looks like I'm taking your Hoenn ace.'_ He sighs. _'My meta-knowledge is officially unreliable now._

"What's the sigh for?" Zinnia asks, look towards Lee.

The scarred man frowns. "I just dunno how Treecko is going to take this..." he says, raising his pokeball.

"You caught both Corvisquire and that Treecko?" Brendan questions, stepping closer and looking at the pokeballs in Lee's hands. "Quick thinking on that one. They could have died if that hulk of deadwood fell on them!"

"That hunk of deadwood was Treecko's home," Lee says, shrinking Corvisquire's ball and clipping it to his belt. He eyes the remaining ball in his grasp with sympathy. "He probably wishes he _was_ dead." As he said that, Vulpix's returns to his shoulders and licks his un-scarred cheek, putting a wane smile on Lee's face.

Brendan flinches back, and Zinnia pretends she wasn't paying attention in favor of looking at the wreckage again, but her watchful eyes give her away.

"Best to do it like a bandaid, quick and painful to get it over with," Lee murmurs, tapping the button of Treecko's ball. It bursts open with the pokeball signature _snap-hiss_ and shoots Treecko out onto the ground. When the light fades, the green lizard blinks and looks around.

Again, he drops to his knees when his eyes land on the dead tree that was once his home. The twig in his mouth falls from his open mouth onto the ground as very-human tears build in his eyes.

Lee looks back to Brendan and Zinnia, silent shooing them away with a hand. Rather than the protest he expected, they shuffle off a respectful distance back. With a mental _'you too,'_ to Vulpix, the vixen reluctantly vacates his shoulders and follows her trainer's friends.

For a while, Lee stands next to Treecko as he silently weeps for his lost home. As he stands, Lee thinks over what to say.

' _I don't think my normal approach will work here. This isn't a primal problem. No, this is definitely the problem of a more complex being. Apes can mourn for lost homes as well, I think. Shit, I should have paid more attention to that section in college.'_

"It hurts, doesn't it? To lose the place you called home."

Treecko's eyes dart to Lee, who keeps looking at the dead tree. "I know what you're going through, almost to a T. The place you love, all gone for reasons you can't control. You just want to cry, scream, rage at the world because it's not fair."

' _You're one to talk,'_ a snide voice in the back of his mind sneers. _'Have you even come to terms with it yourself?'_

Lee ignores the voice and the barrage of painful memories. He sits down, bringing himself down to Treecko's level. The lizard's eyes follow his every movement. "It's not fair, it never is. Sometimes, the world just doesn't care."

Treecko's paws clench into shaking fists as he listens.

"But..."

The shaking stops when Lee puts a gentle hand on Treecko's shoulder.

"I know your look," Lee turns for the first time and meets Treecko's eyes. When the gecko pokemon shows no hostility, he continues. "You aren't the type to stay down, are you? No, you're stronger than that. The world just took everything from you, but you're not about to admit that the world won. You'll stand up and show everyone that you can't be kept down."

Treecko's tears have long-since dried. He hangs onto Lee's every word as if entranced.

"You are a survivor, a struggler," Lee continues, keeping his unblinking gaze locked onto Treecko. "When push comes to shove, no one shoves harder than you. Soon, you'll be pushing the world around, not the reverse."

Lee looks away for a moment, then back to the still intently listening Treecko. "Have you ever had a dream, Treecko?"

"Tree..?" Treecko tilts his head with inquiry.

"I do," Lee replies. He can't help but smirk as the corny words spill from his mouth. "That dream is to be the best, like no one ever was. To stand at the top of the world with my pokemon team. To show everyone that we're the best there will ever be. It was losing everything that spurred me into doing it." The man lets the info sink into Treecko, who regards him with deep thought. "But I need the best pokemon around to help with that job. I caught you to keep you from being crushed by the tree, and you need only say the word and I'll let you go, but..."

Lee takes the hand off Treecko's shoulder and puts it before him. "...I'd feel much better about my chances with a fellow struggler on my side. What say you? Will you come with me to the top of the world?"

Treecko stares at the offered hand for a moment. He looks back to the dead tree, then to the other Treecko watching in the distance. He returns his blazing yellow eyes to again Lee.

After bending down and putting his twig back in its rightful place, Treecko's paw falls firmly into Lee's hand, and Lee can't help but grin.

' _Sorry again, Ash.'_

* * *

Night had fallen. In a clearing deep in the Petalburg woods far away from where the earlier excitement of the day had occurred, Lee, Brendan, and Zinnia settle for the night. The night is dark and quiet, the tranquil of the woods is broken only by the crackle of the fire and the background noise of Bug pokemon.

"Alright, we're done."

Treecko lets his arms rest at his side as Lee stops poking and prodding him. The green lizard regards his new trainer cooly, but Lee can still see some level of annoyance to his gaze.

"I know it's irritating," Lee says, raising his hands in surrender. "But you do need a physical so I can gauge any issues you might have. Vulpix got the same thing and still gets physicals as she grows. With the info I can better help you grow."

Vulpix, now cleaned and rested, doesn't reply, too busy maintaining the glowing orb of flame giving Lee enough light to inspect Treecko with.

Treecko crosses his arms. "Treecko..." He replies with an aloof voice, but the minute drop his shoulders tells Lee he was okay with the answer.

"I am glad to say that you're as healthy as they come," Lee says, jotting down his last notes and putting his notebook away. "We'll do some more testing when I can get supplies and everyone gets some rest. Some of us definitely need it..." Lee mutters, looking down at Corvisquire's ball.

The bird had been in terrible shape when let out of his ball. Hurt and barely coherent, Lee simply treated him with the remainder of his Potion and a Rawst berry that Vulpix managed to sniff out before returning him to his ball.

' _I'll get him treated at the Pokemon Center in Rustboro. With Treecko to guide us, we should be able to haul ass and get out of here by tomorrow. I need to pick up better supplies too. Common stuff Like Burn Heals and Antidotes.'_ Lee thinks with a shake of his head. He lays back in the cool grass as Vulpix lets her orb go out to join him. She gladly snuggles under his arm, and although he doesn't feel anything, the rustle of the grass tells Lee that Treecko is laying down near his other side.

Lee feels his eyes drift shut as he watches the scattered, unfamiliar stars through the branches overhead.

' _Fuck this forest.'_

He's out like a light.


	11. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The greatest challenges are often ones of our own making, for ill or for good. Lee and his team learn such.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> The p troen is deactivated as I am now employed again. Rough two months for sure, but now that I am not a poor fuck, I can deliver more of my incoherent pokemon rambling right to your computer. Sorry not sorry. Big mcthankies to all the well-wishers and reviewers.
> 
> Also point out mistakes. Remember I am rart and blind.

* * *

All around one of the Rustboro training grounds, young trainers chatter and point excitedly to the whirling column of flame above their heads. Near the edge of the field, a grizzled veteran trainer clad in green with scars marring his fearsome face watches the fire with a stoic, fearless expression.

As quickly as the fire came, it dies down, revealing a little Vulpix calmly sitting in the center of the field.

* * *

Lee lets out a sigh and scratches his head. "No luck?" He asks, already knowing the answer.

The vixen looks up to her trainer and shakes her head with a sigh of her own.

For the past two days, Lee and Vulpix have been trying to replicate her burst of power during her fight with Corvisquire to no avail. Everything from shouting like a shounen power-up sequence to Lee pouring every bit of mental focus he could into helping Vulpix's pyrokinesis proved fruitless. The repeated practice certainly increased the speed and power of her Fire Spin, but it all still paled compared to the hellscape she released in the Petalburg Woods.

The scarred man looks around, feeling a bubble of nervousness as he sees all the other trainers and pokemon watching. _'The audience isn't fouling your performance, is it love?'_ He sends to her.

Vulpix answers with an eyeroll, not needing any vocals or telepathy to make her _'as if'_ reply apparent.

A shadow flies overhead before the owner of the shadow lands harshly on the ground with a plume of dust, making Lee and Vulpix flinch.

Red eyes regard them both with irritation as the dust settles, revealing Corvisquire with both a little paper card and Lee's ID held in his beak. The raven pokemon hops forward and presents Lee with the cards, somehow making the movement mocking.

Lee ignores the antics and takes the offered cards in his hands, noticing the Rustboro gym logo on the paper one. "Thank you, problem child. They didn't hassle you at all?" he asks, slipping his ID into his pocket as he looks over the card from the gym.

Corvisquire gives his trainer a queer look. As if mere humans could- _would_ hassle him!

' _I can't really blame him for the look. If a mean, huge bird barged into my business, I'd do what he wanted, too.'_

On the little slip of paper given to him by his pokemon, Lee sees a date, Thursday four days from now, and a time, 2:30 PM. At the header of the card, _Gym Battle Confirmation for Lee Henson_ is printed.

' _No problems for him at all then,'_ Lee thinks, a bit of wonder filling him. _'Did the person at the gym who printed this just think of Corvisquire as another person, or did my ID add a level of legitimacy to Corvisquire's presence?... I should see about getting something a little more advanced than a flip phone so I can book this stuff online. A four-day wait is going to suck.'_

The man is pulled from his thoughts with a painful peck to his knee.

With a hiss, he looks down to the smugly crooning raven, who stiffens and turns when he feels Vulpix's burning gaze boring into his side. The vulpine and avian silently match stares, Vulpix's hackles rising as Corvisquire's steely feathers ruffle, showing off some of the still-burned flesh underneath.

"Quit it!"

Both pokemon look up at Lee. The man looks down at both pokemon with crossed arms. "Cool it with the hostility. We're a team and need to at least _act_ like it," he says, looking around at the other trainers. Some had left, but a few stayed to watch the spectacle. None dared actually challenge Lee and his pokemon, as much like their time in Oldale, the young trainers around Rustboro mistook the team as veterans.

Brendan dominated four battles earlier today and suffered a single, narrow defeat to an agile Spinda that sent him to the Pokemon Center before we went off to see Rustboro's Trainer School. Even Zinnia got a challenge, one from a well-off trainer that made a wager on the match. Swablu won handily and Zinnia went off to explore Rustboro's shops with her prize money.

Lee frowns and rubs his scars, silently cursing them again.

Corvisquire turns his beak up at Lee's scolding and looks away with a sneer, but Vulpix has the grace to look abashed at least somewhat. The trainer of the pokemon can only shake his head.

"Alright, no need for the look, I can sense your disdain from here," Lee mutters, pulling Corvisquire's ball from his belt and returning the bird in a flash of red. With Corvisquire back on his belt, Vulpix leaps to her favorite perch on her trainer's shoulder as he begins to walk off of the field.

"Where to, love?"

As the pair begin the short trek back into town, Lee's mind wanders to the night two days prior.

* * *

_Treecko falls to the ground with a stifled grunt, holding the slowly darkening bruise on his side from the glancing blow._

_Across the makeshift field on the edge of the Petalburg woods, Mudkip bellows louder than a creature his size should be able to as Brendan pumps a fist. "He's on the ropes, Mudkip! One more hit and we've got this!" Mudkip bellows again in agreement, almost bouncing on his feet._

_Treecko grits his teeth, nearly snapping the twig in his mouth and stands again._

_Just behind Treecko, Lee grimaces and glances down at his Pokedex, it's screen showing Treecko's movepool._

_Leer_

_Pound_

_Absorb_

_Not much, but a trainer worth their salt can make it work. Lee knows that Treecko has the makings of a Legendary level pokemon in him, but the movepool is a harsh reminder that Treecko is just starting out_

_...And that Treecko is starting behind the group._

_The prideful gecko may have been one of the strongest Treecko among his colony, but now he's traveling with trained pokemon... Or at least that's how Lee is rationalizing this poor battle._

_Treecko stands to his full height, arms crossed and steadfastly ignoring the discolored bruises, smashed scales, and cuts littering his form. He looks around, noting Zinnia and the other pokemon sans Corvisquire watching the battle carefully. Across the field, Mudkip has barely a welt to show for his trouble._

" _Treecko, hold steady," Lee instructs, trying to think of a plan, all of which die on first contact with Mudkip._

_Brendan smirks. "You wanna wait around? Alright then. Mudkip! Tackle!"_

_The mudfish cries out and rushes forward like a runaway truck._

" _Treecko! Uh..." Lee almost instinctively reaches his mind out to Vulpix, who watches by the sidelines, but stops himself short. "T-Trip him with Pound! Sidestep and aim for the legs!"_

_Treecko jukes to the right just in the nick of time and lashes out with his muscular tail, catching Mudkip mid-stride in the legs. The actual attack does little damage but does send a surprised Mudkip tumbling into the grass._

" _Mudkip! Get up!" Brendan instantly calls, suddenly looking nervous at the unexpected turn._

" _Treecko, use Absorb!" Lee orders at the same time._

_Before Mudkip can get his bearings, Treecko swiftly closes the distance and stops several feet short, opening his jaw._

_Mudkip cries out in pain for the first time in the match as little globes of yellow energy are ripped from his body to fly into Treecko's waiting mouth. The mudfish fights through the pain and stands up, leaping away out of Absorbs short-range, but by that time Treecko's mouth is nearly full._

_The gecko pokemon tips his head back and swallows the blob of shining yellow. Almost instantly afterward, his smaller cuts knit back together, his bruises fade somewhat, and a number of damaged scales fall out to reveal healthy ones underneath. He stands with only a hint of a smirk. "Tree..."_

_Mudkip quickly shakes away the weariness Absorb forced upon him to scowl and growl deep his throat, visibly itching to counter-attack._

_Brendan abandons his cocky attitude in favor of a more calculating one. The boy chews on his lip for a moment before calling; "Mudkip! Saturate the ground!"_

_Both Lee and Treecko blink as one. "What?" Lee asks aloud. "Hold on, we're not standing around to find out! Treecko, flank and use Pound!"_

_Treecko grunts and rushes to Mudkip's side in a sprint, but even with the boost from Absorb, Mudkip is just a little faster._

_Mudkip takes a deep breath and vomits a torrent of water onto the ground, flooding the field in a few centimeters of water just a few seconds. An instant later, Lee understands why._

_Treecko missteps on the now muddy ground and trips._

_Without needing an order, Mudkip barrels towards Treecko, moving like the ground isn't even wet and smashes into him with a brutal, bone-rattling Tackle._

_Treecko's breath is forced from his lungs in a painful burst. His eyes bulge as he's thrown end over end. After the longest two seconds of his life, he finally crashes into the cold mud where he lays and pants short, painful breaths._

_Lee shakes his head. "Treecko isn't fit to fight further. You and Mudkip win, Brendan," he says, hiding how much the loss stung._

" _We won?" Brendan asks with a blink, as if he didn't believe it. "Holy crap, we beat Lee, buddy!" He cries in joy, rushing in and snatching Mudkip up in a hug, not minding how muddy the pokemon is. The pair laugh and do a twirl._

" _Well, congrats are in order, shrimpy," Zinnia cuts in, a lop-sided smile on her face as she walks up to the field. "You managed to beat Lee's weakest pokemon with your strongest," she finishes, clapping slowly._

_From his spot on the ground, Treecko grits his teeth at the word 'weakest', turning his head to the forest._

_Towards where his tree now lay._

_Lee ignores Brendan's retort to Zinnia as he steps into the field and kneels down at Treecko's side. "You alright, pal? And none of that macho 'hide the pain' bullshit either, I'm being for real." he asks gently._

_Treecko refuses to meet his trainer's eyes and slowly stands, limbs trembling. Lee debates helping him up and enforcing his no 'hiding the pain' statement, but decides hurting Treecko's pride further isn't worth it._

_After a long half-minute, Treecko is standing on his own, revealing his entire middle to be one cringe-inducing bruise. Lee rises back to his full height and walks back to his tent in slow, measured steps with Treecko following. By the field, Vulpix catches Lee's eye and sends him a wordless, telepathic message that he vaguely interprets as 'I'll be along shortly.'_

_He sends her back an equally wordless pulse of understanding._

_Before the tent, Lee seats himself and digs in his backpack, silently cursing himself for not getting two potions in Little Root. Instead, he produces a single wild Oran sniffed out by Vulpix and picked not even several hours prior. Treecko takes the offered berry with all the coolness his battered form can muster and takes a slow bite._

_For a few moments, trainer and pokemon sit in silence. Treecko's injuries fade as he eats and Lee thinks his coming words over._

_Once Treecko swallows his last bite, Lee begins. "Don't let today get to you. Mudkip is a freak of nature and punches way above his weight class. The gap will close quickly, I promise."_

_Treecko regards Lee silently for a moment, and Lee has to resist the urge to squirm under Treecko's yellow eyes. After a long minute, Treecko looks away with a small nod. The unspoken 'I'll hold you to that' is louder than any words could have been._

* * *

Lee is pulled from the memory when he and Vulpix find themselves in Rustboro proper, more specifically, before the Pokemon Trainer School.

The building is a large, multistorey academy with a red brick exterior. White flags depicting red pokeballs decorate a number of windows and balconies along the outside. It's a rather humble appearance for what Lee knows is a high-tech establishment. The main doors of the school are wide open, with a colorful little floor sign depicting a happy Torchic welcoming any trainer inside. Another sign with an equally cheerful Geodude says _Guest students and visitors please check in at the office!_

"Didn't Brendan say he was going to check this place out?" Lee turns and asks Vulpix, who nods in confirmation. The pair turn back to the doors and Lee bites his lip.

' _A grown man wandering into a school would raise all sorts of red flags and probably result in the cops being called back home,'_ Lee thinks to himself. _'This feels weird, but if they know anything useful...'_ Mind made, Lee walks in.

The clean, locker-flanked hallways echo faintly with the lectures of distant teachers and the shined linoleum floor shows an almost clear reflection of Lee and Vulpix when the pair look down. Doors break up the locker rows every so often, and further down the hallway splits into three more paths. The vague scent of ink and paper is everywhere, poking the scarred man with a dull spike of nostalgia. Both man and pokemon perk up when they hear the sound of a door opening and high-heels on the floor.

"Good afternoon! Are you lost?"

Lee turns around, coming face-to-face with none other than Roxanne, the Rustboro Gym Leader.

The smartly-dressed woman looks up at Lee, her eyes flicking over to Vulpix for a second before she smiles. "Two guest speakers I take it? If you're not sure which classroom you should be in, we can find that out," she says, gesturing a hand to the door she just emerged from.

One labeled "Office/Guest Check-in" that Lee somehow missed.

' _Jesus H, I feel like an idiot.'_

Lee pushes away his sudden nervousness at meeting the woman he's set to battle tomorrow and clears his throat. "A-Ah, no actually," he starts. "We're here because a friend came in to sit in on a few classes. He just got done with some team training and thought we'd come to see the school and maybe, uh, learn a few things?"

If Roxanne noticed how awkward Lee became the longer he spoke, she politely ignored it. She just maintains her smile and nods. "Certainly, we're glad to help any trainer who wishes to learn or refresh their skills. Which lesson plan were you interested in?"

Lee smiles but internally screams. _'Fuck. Lesson plan? Don't stutter in front of the Gym Leader, dummy.'_

On his shoulder, Vulpix rolls her eyes and quickly feeds him a telepathic answer.

"Oh, just whatever was available as I walked in. I'm just killing time until my traveling companion gets out of his class, so I thought I would spend my time productively here."

' _Love you,'_

Vulpix chuffs.

The Gym Leader nods. "I understand. Please follow me."

She turns and leads Lee and Vulpix into the office she just emerged from. Although there isn't much to see, just a cluttered front desk and a door that probably leads further in the administrative area. Like the rest of the school, it has a modern yet cozy feel to it that evokes nostalgia in the man

Roxanne picks up a tablet computer on the desk and scrolls through it. After a second, she blinks and stops, as if suddenly realizing something. "Oh, how rude of me. I apologize for not introducing myself. It must have slipped my mind as we've been busy since the new League year you see," She smiles a practiced smile and offers a hand. "I am Roxanne, a teacher here at the Rustboro Trainer School and the Rustboro Gym Leader."

Lee takes her hand in a short shake, his nervousness fading some. "Lee is the name, and this is Vulpix," he says, reaching a hand up to pet the vixen, who leans into the touch as she regards Roxanne.

The Gym Leader's smile becomes more genuine as she watches. "Charmed to meet you both. Now, as for our visitor classes..." she looks down at the tablet in her hand. "The latest classes when into session about thirty minutes ago, so we still have another thirty minutes until they let out. A number of the upcoming ones are full, but we still have several spots. Do any of these catch your fancy?" She asks, turning the tablet around to show Lee and Vulpix.

A decent number of the classes are greyed out, some of them interesting looking like _Advanced Battle Theory, Care of Common Pokemon, Berry 101, Egg Care,_ etc. Others were more lackluster or of material that could be found with an internet search, like _Hoenn History 101_ , which tended to be the classes with open seats.

One jumped out with how few people took it. _Psychic Type Study_

' _Now_ _ **thats**_ _something we can use,'_ Lee glances to Vulpix with a smile, feeling the sudden spike of interest within her. She turns her head to meet his eyes. _'We might be able to figure out more about the abilities of your line. Hell, we might even be able to get you started on learning Psychic moves.'_

Vulpix makes her distinct vulpine purr in her chest and pushes her cheek to Lee's, turning his smile into a grin.

"How fascinating. It's not often I get to see telepathy at work, much less between a human and a non-Psychic pokemon."

Both Vulpix and Lee stiffen, having forgotten Roxanne entirely. "Ha...Uh..." Lee debates lying or trying to deflect for a second, hoping to keep the advantage under wraps for the upcoming battle, but sighs when he sees Roxanne's sure expression. "Yeah. How could you tell?"

"I've only ever seen the level of non-verbal communication yourself and Vulpix displayed between trainers and pokemon with decades of partnership under their belt," the brunette begins, straightening up into a tall and authoritative posture. "Judging from the loose spirals in Vulpix's head tuft and tails," Roxanne nods towards the bewildered vixen. "She is only several years old, nowhere near long enough for such a level of learned communication. From your own posture, demeanor, and your unusual age for even a guest student in the school, you've only been Vulpix's trainer for a short time. For this reason, I can safely deduce that you must have a method of subvocal communication. Some might assume th-"

Roxanne stops then blushes and looks away. She daintily clears her throat into her hand. "I apologize. I suppose I get carried away sometimes."

"Thats fine," Lee waves it away, hiding how unnerved the accurate analysis made him. "One of my favorite teachers as a kid did the same thing."

The comparison makes Roxanne brighten up. "Of course. Now, your class?"

" _Psychic Type Study_ please,"

The teacher turns the tablet around and types several things. "Your ID please?"

Lee digs the little card out of his pocket and wordlessly hands it over.

Roxanne takes the ID and sets the tablet down on the desk to type on it. She looks at the ID and does a double-take. "A Lab Trainer?" She asks, now regarding the man and pokemon before her with a careful eye.

' _Is it really that big a deal?'_ Lee wonders. "Yeah, I work on behalf of Professor Birch mostly as an independent pokemon researcher."

The Gym Leader's gaze goes from cautious to searching. "Truly? May I ask what the subject of your research is?"

Lee shrugs. "At the moment, my biggest focus is on alternative training methods and pokemon technique control experimentation with a bit of nutrition study on the side."

Roxanne's expression drops further into one of hunger. "Have you published any of your findings for public reading yet? What sort of further research do you have planned? Are there any pokemon in particular you are looking to work with? Are you wanting for supplies or facilities? Or employment? The Rustboro Trainer School has some openings that I-"

Lee holds up his hands in surrender. "Ma'am, please. Slow down a little. My primary research belongs to the Lab and Professor Birch makes sure I'm equipped."

The teacher deflates somewhat. "I understand, but..." she produces a business card from her pocket. "Would you perhaps be interested in working with the Rustboro Trainer School in the future? Perhaps not on a permanent employment basis, but for projects that may arise? As the premier trainer school in Hoenn, we undertake many more academic pursuits and projects than most realize."

' _Is being a Lab Trainer really that big a deal? Offering me a job based on just that? There have to be more qualified people unless the employment of a Lab Trainer is just for the prestige of having the trainer.'_ Lee thinks to himself. _'I guess the sponsorship is more or less an endorsement from Birch, who is... one of the highest pokemon authorities in Hoenn...Okay, now it makes more sense. I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and say no to the chance of being buddy-buddy with a Gym Leader.'_

"Ah, sure, thanks..." Lee takes the offered business card, giving it a lookover, finding Roxanne's phone number and email on it. "I can't promise I'll be available at the exact time that such a project starts, but I'll try my best."

"That's all I ask," she smiles. "Please send me an email when you can and I'll have your log-in for our learning center made as soon as possible."

"Learning center?"

"Indeed!" Roxanne nods. "Being a school affiliate grants you access to our learning center, where you can submit any findings from school-sponsored projects _and_ view our private lessons, the ones reserved for our enrolled year-round students, which are more comprehensive than our free guest classes," she says. "We're fully accredited all the way to the university level, and that's all available to you."

' _Okay, now I'm much more interested.'_

Her smile grows a little. "Precisely the look I expected on a fellow academic."

Lee looks up from the business card and realizes just how hard he was focusing on it. "Erm, I don't know about the term 'academic', but I'm not adverse to learning..." He tucks the business card away in his pocket. "Anyway, the class?"

Roxanne glances down to the tablet and hums to herself. "Mister Henson, I have a proposition for you. You said you were competing in the gym circuit this year, yes?"

Vulpix and Lee share a look. "I am, yeah."

"Have you already reserved a match with me?"

The nervous pit in Lee's stomach begins to deepen. "Yeah. Thursday at 2:30pm."

She nods. "Rather than take our guest class on the subject of Psychic-types, would you assist me in my upcoming battle theory class?" She asks. "I am willing to count it as an official gym challenge, negating your wait, and I assure you our online course regarding Psychic types is very informative."

Lee groans inwardly and looks over to Vulpix. "Your opinion, love?"

The vixen flicks an ear and meets Lee's eyes.

_Suspicious..._

' _Good point.'_

"Why ask us?" Lee questions, crossing his arms. "Not to put you on the spot, but you must have a better, more qualified assistant around here. I've never taught anyone in my life, and..." Lee mulls over his next words and grimaces. "I'd rather have a real match, not a demo for students."

Roxanne digests his words for a moment, looking away for a short few seconds. "I... can see how this would seem suspect." She turns back to Lee and Vulpix. "Teaching is my passion, you see, and while observing battles in the school is a large part of our lesson plan, our rental pokemon here at the school were given to us by the Pokemon League. They don't make for the best examples."

Vulpix raises a brow as Lee asks the question on both their minds. "Not the best examples? Why is that?"

Roxanne sighs and shakes her head. "These pokemon were chosen by the Pokemon League specifically for their low potential and docile nature. Bureaucratic red-tape prohibits pokemon over a certain level of power and a number of species by name from being used in educational facilities, citing danger to the students." Her visage hardens. "It leaves some students ill-prepared for the life of a pokemon trainer. They believe that what they see here is average. Official battles they see on TV don't convey the real average as well as a live experience. I record my gym battles for the school, but that still falls flat. A gym battle between a Leader and a Lab Trainer would be perfect for them."

A flicker of pleased thought from Vulpix tells Lee that she's mollified. "And you won't be penalized by the League for hosting a gym battle here?"

The Gym Leader shakes her head. "No, as Gym Leader, I can declare anywhere in the Rustboro corporation limit to be a valid battleground. My authority as a Gym Leader supersedes nearly all others regarding this."

Lee rubs the back of his head and thinks it over.

* * *

"Good afternoon class!"

"Good afternoon Miss Roxanne..." The group of teens, all dressed in school uniforms, replies in the same unenthused drone Lee remembers from his school days.

Outside behind the large school in one of the large, chalk-outlined battlefields dotting the area, Lee stands behind Roxanne as she takes roll-call of her class, who all sit bored on the steel bleachers. Several pokemon are among their number. Lee spies a dopey Whooper, a Nincada who doesn't seem to be enjoying the harsh sun, and a shy Whismer hiding behind a girl's leg. True to Roxanne's word, they aren't much to look at, but they're a little too far away to visually inspect in detail.

"Everyone please take your notebooks out and be ready to take notes!" Roxanne calls with a smile. The teens slowly dig notebooks out of their backpacks as the teacher continues. "We have a special guest assisting me today. Please welcome Pokemon Researcher Lee Henson!"

"Hello, Mister Henson..." The kids drone with the same dead enthusiasm they gave Roxanne. One or two of them eye him with something akin to interest for a second, then just as quickly dismiss him.

Lee mouths _'Pokemon Researcher'_ to himself in confusion before stepping forward. "Afternoon, everyone. Thank you for having me," he says, a prickle of nervousness in his stomach with Vulpix in her ball and not out with him.

Roxanne takes over again. "Today is going to be a special class, as today, you all will be observing a no-holds-barred two-on-two battle between my gym team and Mister Henson's team. This will be a sanctioned gym battle and will be much more intense than our normal showings. Please pay close attention!"

A few of the students perk up and begin to chatter at the news.

"A gym battle?"

"I've never heard of this guy..."

"More intense?"

"Look at the scars! This could be rad!"

Lee frowns and rubs the lines on his face. _'Every time...'_

"Quiet down everyone! Quiet please!" Roxanne calls. "Julie? Can you come down and act as a referee for this match, please? Please bring your notebook and take notes please!"

The girl with the Whismer blinks in apparent surprise at being chosen and stands, shushing her whining Whismer and coming down to the field. She takes the ref spot as Lee and Roxanne separate to opposite sides of the field.

Lee fingers the pokeball in his hand as he takes the side of the field labeled _'visitor'_ in chalk, hoping that this choice doesn't come back to bite him in the ass.

On the other end of the field, Roxanne produces a shrunken pokeball from her dress pocket and expands it. "Standard gym rules. Whenever you're ready, Julie!"

The girl clears her throat. "This is a two-on-two match between Miss Roxanne and Mister Henson! The challenger, Mister Henson, may substitute, but Miss Roxanne may not! The battle will end when one side's pokemon are no longer able to battle! And... and..."

"Each round will end..." Roxanne gently reminds.

"Each round will end when the pokemon is no longer able to battle as well!" The girl hastily corrects, making a few of her classmates laugh. "D-Defender, please select your first pokemon!"

Roxanne throws the ball in her hand out. Midair, it snaps open and an immaculately polished Geodude materializes on the field. The living stone levels Lee with a steady look, calmly waiting for instruction from Roxanne.

Lee lets out a shaky breath and tries to steel his nerves, but fails to keep his hands from shaking from the sheer adrenaline.

' _The battle hasn't even started yet and I'm already freaking out,'_ Lee gulps. He looks over Geodude, but considering his zoology knowledge is useless when sizing up a rock, he can't glean much.

"Challenger, please select your first pokemon!"

With a final deep breath, Lee throws the ball in his hand up. Like Roxanne's did, it snaps open midair with it's distinct _pop_ sound.

Before Lee, Corvisquire takes form.

A wave of murmurs overtakes the students, some pointing at Corvisquire. Lee can't catch much, but "What pokemon is that?" seems to be a common question. At least one student jeers and says "Sending out a bird against a Geodude?"

Corvisquire catches the last one and turns his baleful red eyes to glare into the students, his feathers ruffling to make him look larger. A few of the kids hiss from sharp intakes of breath while the rest go quiet.

"Just take it easy, Corvisquire," Lee eases his nerves and puts up a confident front, schooling his face into a thin mask of cool. "This is a Gym Battle, something serious, and I need your skill and guile."

The raven pokemon gives Lee a sidelong look and calms somewhat, but still screws his avian face up into grudging acceptance. He looks to Geodude, sizing the other pokemon up, and as he does, his reluctance transforms into an arrogant sneer.

' _Thank God he's not fighting me on this.'_

Roxanne seems visibly confused before she recovers. "A Corvisquire! How very interesting to see a Galar native pokemon here! Type advantage isn't everything, class! I'm certain Mister Henson has an interesting strategy to use against Geodude!" She turns to the referee. "On your mark, Julie. Everyone else, notebooks at the ready!"

The girl pulls her eyes away from Corvisquire and raises a hand. Lee quickly scans the terrain as her mouth opens.

' _A field of hard-packed dirt and rocks. The ground is even and a slight breeze to the north. No trees or anything that would impede Corvisquire, but that also means no cover.'_ Silently, he goes over Corvisquire's moveset one more time.

_Power Trip_

_Hone Claws_

_Fury Attack_

_Pluck_

_Taunt_

_Scary Face_

And the last three that tipped him off that Corvisquire almost certainly had a prior trainer.

_Steel Wing, Swift, and_ _**Extremespeed** _ _._

His research at the Rustboro library the day before hinted that Steel Wing and Swift could be learned naturally by the raven pokemon, but Extremespeed? A move only the _fastest_ pokemon can learn?

The world comes back into sharp focus and Lee's soundless monologue ends as Julie raises a hand.

"Geodude versus Corvisquire, begin!"

"Corvisquire, in the air!"

Before Roxanne can get her first order out, the raven pokemon is high up in the air with a single beat of his wings. He looks down at Geodude with a mocking caw.

"It's only natural for a flying pokemon to get up in the air where it has it's best mobility, but you aren't the first flyer we've fought," Roxanne remarks. "Geodude, scattershot Rockthrow!"

' _What Rockthrow?'_

Geodude digs his stony hands into the ground as easily as a man would jelly, lifting out a cannonball sized chunk of earth like it weighed nothing. With a grunt, he squeezes the earth until it cracks.

Then he throws it, and hardly a foot into its flight, the rock breaks into countless whistling, jagged shards, covering a huge area.

' _Shit!'_

"Corvisquire, dive!" Lee yells, clenching his fists.

The raven dives and twirls mid-air, narrowly missing the bulk of the rocky shotgun blast but is still clipped by a few fragments, drawing blood across one of his legs.

"But as shown, mobility can be countered!" Roxanne calls to the students, who are watching with wide eyes. "Again, Geodude!"

Geodude's hands dig into the ground.

"Fuck that!" Lee calls. "Corvisquire! Use Scary Face!"

The bird pokemon levels out midair and glares down at Geodude with so much hate that it can almost be tasted in the air. Even a few of the watching students gasp and lean away.

Geodude grunts and flinches, fumbling his throw and sending the spray of rocks wide, missing Corvisquire entirely.

"Now! Dive in with Steel Wing!"

Whole form radiating malice, Corvisquire jets towards Geodude as little more than a blur of blue flanked by gleaming wings that make a hideous scream through the air.

Roxanne's eyes widen. "Geodude, Defense Curl now!"

The living boulder can barely raise his arms in time before a blade-like wing crashes into him, making a terrible squeal of metal-on-rock that throws sparks all over. As Corvisquire disengages and returns to the air, Geodude groans and gingerly lowers his arms, showing two ugly gashes across his arms that would have scarred for certain if he were made of flesh. High above, Corvisquire lets out yet another mocking caw, earning a scowl from Geodude.

"Don't let up! Hone Claws, then Steel Wing again!" Lee orders, now shaking again from the adrenaline.

Corvisquire shrieks and grinds his talons together, even bringing a set of talons up to drag across his beak. Then he does a harsh downward flap, catching his primary feathers together and raking them across one another, throwing sparks. All the natural weapons across his body glitter with a sharp edge.

If Geodude was unnerved by the show, his face didn't reflect it.

Then dipping into a harsh dive, the bird pokemon screams towards his foe again, a blur of razor blades and hate.

"Wait for it, wait for it, Geodude! Sand Attack!" Roxanne orders.

A simple slap across the dusty ground is Geodude's reply to Steel Wing, sending a plume of sand up to meet Corvisquire only fifteen feet or so away.

Corvisquire squawks in pain and aborts the attack, blindly banking hard to the side and up. He shakes his head, trying to dislodge the sand in his eyes.

"Scattershot, Geodude!"

The rock pokemon smirks and pulls another clod of earth from the ground, thankfully slower than he could previously.

' _Either his injuries are slowing him down or he's still recovering from Scary Face,'_ Lee feels sweat drip down his face. "Corvisquire, level out and clear your eyes! Focus on my voice and be ready to move!"

The bird hovers for a moment, blinking sand and tears from his irritated eyes. If he heard Lee, then he does not make it apparent.

Just as Geodude winds up, Lee cries; "Fly towards my voice!"

Corvisquire dodges the latest spray of rocks with just inches to spare, flying as quickly as he dared to his trainer. He blinks the last of the sand away and turns to Geodude with an angry hiss.

"Enough is enough, right?" Lee asks, making the bird pokemon turn and eye him with annoyance. "How about a quick finisher?"

Irritable red eyes suddenly brighten with malicious glee, as if to say _'Finally!'_

Roxanne and Geodude wait on their side of the field. _'And judging from their last attack, they want to react and use Corvisquire's speed against him. Well, how about this?'_

"Corvisquire, charge up Steel Wing..." Lee pauses but suddenly feels silly for trying to be dramatic. "...and move in with Extremespeed."

Roxanne's eyes shoot open wide in alarm.

Corvisquire unfurls his wings, which begin to gleam, then vanishes from sight entirely with only a whistle of displaced air.

Before Geodude can even react, a wing as hard as a steel blade rends his side, carving a trench through his rocky body and throwing him end-over-end.

Lee's entire body breaks out into goosebumps as Corvisquire rematerializes on his end of the field, throwing his head back and laughing a dry, rattling laugh.

This pokemon is just plain violent.

' _I'm going to have to curb that...'_ He thinks, but the unsettling feeling is offset with his sheer elation at the assumed victory, leaving uncomfortable butterflies in his stomach. _'Or Butterfree. Ha.'_

For a long moment, Geodude is still upon the ground and everyone stares, stunned. Then after a long ten seconds, the rock pokemon groans and tries to roll to his base, only to fail and go limp into blissful unconsciousness.

At the side of the field, Julie gulps. "G-Geodude is unable to battle. Corvisquire and Mister Henson are the winners!"

It's quiet for a beat, then two, then then students erupt into cheers.

"That was awesome!"

"I had no idea you could use Rockthrow like that!"

"That was way better than any trash teacher battles!"

"Did you see how fast the bird was!?"

"Yeah, that was nuts!"

Corvisquire casually preens a wing, poorly pretending that he doesn't hear the compliments.

Roxanne returns Geodude to his ball and murmurs something too low for Lee to hear to the ball before she turns her slightly forced smile onto the scarred man. "I certainly wasn't expecting a Corvisquire, nor that he knew Extremespeed. You certainly weren't exaggerating about your move experimentation," she says. Then she turns to her class. "I hope everyone took notes on that! That was a prime example of why type advantage isn't everything! A clever pokemon and trainer can overcome any challenge with a good plan and teamwork!"

The teens quiet down and eagerly watch the proceedings.

Roxanne shrinks Geodude's pokeball and puts it away, drawing a more worn ball and expanding it.

"Normally, Mister Henson," She begins. "I would battle with my League provided team, but I don't think that will be a challenge for you, nor would it be engaging enough for the class."

If the class was watching closely before, they're utterly rapt now.

The scrutiny makes Lee's next question feel especially foolish. "League provided team?"

The teacher nods with a smile. "Indeed, while Gym Leaders are the local pokemon authority and defender of their towns, we must also give badges to worthy trainers so they may compete in the Ever Grande Conference. However..." She looks down at the pokeball in her hand and rolls it between her fingers tenderly. "If we were to use our own personally trained pokemon, we would present too much of a challenge for new trainers, so the Pokemon League sees fit to provide us with pokemon of a more fair level of ability." She looks up at Lee, eyes hardening. "However, we may use our own pokemon upon worthy challengers, and a lower-tier team would be too easy for you, Mister Lee Henson. Geodude was my newest personal capture and was soundly beaten, but this pokemon is an old hand at battle. I am currently the weakest Gym Leader, so against a foe like you, I can't hold back."

Lee's stomach drops as he realizes where this battle is going.

The ball leaves Roxanne's hand and snaps open, dropping a Nosepass upon the ground.

The compass pokemon hovers just inches off the ground, unnervingly still and impassive. A low static charge fills the air, making Lee's skin tingle. Looking down, the zipper of his jacket stands up and gently points towards the giant magnet that is Nosepass.

Corvisquire's feathers ruffle and his eyes narrow, no doubt annoyed by the magnetic field pulling at his ferrous feathers.

"Gym Leader Roxanne calls out Nosepass!" The ref calls. "Will the challenger substitute?"

Corvisquire turns and shakes his head at Lee, his eyes warily locked on to Nosepass. Lee licks his lips. "No subs from us."

"Corvisquire versus Nosepass, begin!"

"Corvisquire, up-!"

"Thunderwave."

Before Lee can even finish his command, Corvisquire is hit with a burst of high-voltage electricity shot from the tip of the still unmoving Nosepass's nose, making Corvisquire cough out a squawk and convulse in his feet, his half-open wings frozen.

Lee can practically feel his blood pressure shoot up. "Corvisquire! Fight it! You can do it! Up in the air!"

The raven struggles and slowly extends his wings further

"Now, Spark, Nosepass." Roxanne calmly orders.

The only sound Nosepass makes is a quiet crackle before he's wreathed in a shroud of snapping and popping electricity. A second later, he shoots forward headfirst like a missile.

Corvisquire can only caw in alarm before the rock pokemon smashes into him, electrocuting and bludgeoning him in one go.

The raven pokemon troubles across the ground before coming to a stop, burnt, twitching, and unconscious.

Lee's stomach drops. _'One hit. One hit and Corvisquire is down. Holy shit.'_

As Nosepass floats back to Roxanne's side of the field, Lee spies shallow gouges in his rock-like flesh right where Corvisquire's wings impacted.

' _Spiteful little bastard used Steel Wing at the last second. What a guy...'_

"Corvisquire is unable to battle!" The ref student calls. "Nosepass and Roxanne are the winners!"

Again, the class cheers, some standing and applauding. Even the handful of rental pokemon with the class are caught up in the energy and cheer.

"Again, I hope everyone took notes!" Roxanne calls to the class. "In a real battle, the tides can turn in an instant, and it's very important to regain lost momentum. Lets see how Mister Henson approaches this problem!"

Lee takes a deep breath and reaches for his pokeballs, hesitating before taking Vulpix's ball. With a flick of his wrist, the ball flies and releases Vulpix in a flash of light. The expected snark and giggling from the watching class about using a Fire-type against a Rock-type is ignored

The little vixen blinks the stars from her eyes and Lee feels her mind touch his. He freely lets her in, offering his memories of the last battle to her as he feels the tension in his body loosens just from feeling her again. She widens the channel for a moment, taking the trainer in the psychic equivalent of an embrace, relaxing him even further.

Vulpix sorts through the offered memories in an instant, pausing for a split second at the revelation of Gym Leaders having two teams, and looks back at him.

_Plan?_

' _Considering Nosepass is her ace, we can't let up. We have to be dicks right out of the gate or we're dead. We're loading him up with confusion and burns, then pelting him from afar.'_

She nods, looking forward again.

Across the field, Roxanne looks at Vulpix, visibly troubled. "Nosepass, be ready."

The compass pokemon hums in reply.

' _Turn up the heat, love.'_

Vulpix narrows her eyes, and high above, the summer sun seems to brighten and beat down even more harshly.

The ref clears her throat. "Mister Henson sends out Vulpix! Final Match! Vulpix versus Nosepass, begin!"

' _Confuse Ray! And stay mobile so his Thunder Wave can't hit you!'_

Vulpix is in motion the instant the ref is done speaking, her eyes lighting up a sinister violet.

The academic Gym Leader notices instantly. "Nosepass, Protect now!"

A barrier of green drops around Nosepass just in the nick of time, as it's surface ripples where the invisible Confuse Ray hit.

Lee can't help but grunt in frustration. _'Does everyone and their mom know Protect? Charge Confuse Ray again and I'll give the signal as Protect drops.'_

The instant Protect begins to drop, Lee springs Vulpix. _'Now!'_

Again Vulpix sends out a Confuse Ray pulse, but Roxanne cries out; "Left one meter now! Then Rock Polish!"

Nosepass quickly hovers to the left, the slow Confuse Ray missing. A second later, his rocky exterior begins to shine brightly as the rough surfaces upon him smooth out, making his aerodynamics skyrocket.

' _Dodge this! Baby-Doll Eyes!'_

Still bounding around the arena, Vulpix's eyes glow again, this time pink. This time the effect is instant, the eerie Fairy energy enfeebles Nosepass with almost no delay, making him wobble midair for a moment before he steadies out.

Roxanne is beginning to sweat on her side of the field. "Nosepass! Slow her down with Thun-"

' _Thunderwave. Use Quick Attack to dodge, then close the distance and point blank Confuse Ray. Thank you, speed of thought.'_

-derwave!"

Vulpix coats herself in white Normal energy and dodges left as a red blur. An instant later, a streak of lighting jumps off of Nosepass and misses spectacularly. Without stopping, Vulpix flanks Nosepass just feet away, eyes alight.

Roxanne gasps. "Nosepass! Pro-!"

The Rock pokemon lets out an ill grumble and sways side to side, before suddenly lashing out with an unexpected Tackle, catching Vulpix and smashing into her. He overextends the Tackle and crashes into the ground with a painful _crack!_

Lee winces at the crunch he hears from Vulpix and feels his nose sting with phantom pain. Vulpix jumps back and uses a paw to rub her broken and bleeding nose with tears stinging her eyes.

"Nosepass, snap out of it!" Roxanne yells. "I need you!"

Nosepass quickly begins to steady.

' _Will-o-Wisp, we can't let him get any momentum.'_

As ordered, Vulpix shakes away the distracting pain and shoots a slow-moving orb of white flames from her mouth, which splashes over Nosepass. For the first time, the Rock pokemon makes a sound of pain, the sound being a high-pitched keen that makes Vulpix fold her ears back.

The flames of Will-o-Wisp don't last long, but they leave Nosepass's side cracked and glowing a painful red like superheated rock. The impassive pokemon's brow furrows in what has to be agony as he lists to his injured side. If he hadn't snapped himself out of confusion by now, then the burn definitely did it for him.

"Nosepass!" Roxanne cries in near panic. "We can't let this go on! Pull through! We just need one good hit!"

Nosepass groans and floats back into a 'standing' position facing Vulpix.

"Discharge!"

' _Discharge? Oh shit, out of there now!'_

Even at the speed of thought, the order is just barely too late as Nosepass explodes into a nova of electricity that fills the field almost instantly. Vulpix yowls in pain and is locked in place until the wave passes. Even from the little phantom sensation he felt, Lee has to resist the urge to curl up as every nerve ending in his body stings. _'It's official, I hate Electric everything.'_

He watches as Vulpix takes a deep breath and tries to shake off the weakness in her muscles from the Electric blast. Discharge damn near knocked her out from the overload, and Lee can only imagine the same move from a true Electric type pokemon would have been a one-hit incapacitation. Bits of her fur stand on end and more than a bit is singed, but she stands tall on all fours as the black in the edges of her vision recedes.

' _Look, this is going to come off as a real asshole move, but fuck getting hit by that again. Ember, and curve them into his burn.'_

Vulpix doesn't need much convincing. She takes a breath and fires a stream of fireballs from her mouth all around Nosepass.

Roxanne opens her mouth to issue an order when she notices all the Embers go wide by Nosepass's injured side, all of them missing.

Then they turn midair to Nosepass as if magnified.

Roxanne's face becomes one of horror. "Nosepass, Protect!"

The compass pokemon is just barely too slow as the first Ember smashes into his burn and breaks his concentration. Then the second one lands, then the third, fourth, fifth, tenth, twentieth...

Nosepass makes the same high-pitched keen as before and wobbles mid-air, coming dangerously close to hitting the ground as the last Ember splashes over his burn, making the cracked stone break even more.

' _Oh c'mon! I get that Fire isn't good against Rock, but we hit a fucking burn! Just go down already!'_ Lee grits his teeth.

"Nosepass! Use Sandstorm!" Roxanne cries.

' _Fuck. Breaking line of sight and slowing Vulpix down in one go. That's smart.'_

Nosepass grunts and a whirlwind of sand blooms to life around him, rapidly expanding to cover the field in a gritty, howling wind that totally obscures Nosepass. Vulpix has to grit her teeth and squint to avoid getting the fine particulate in her eyes.

"Nosepass, use Rocktomb!"

' _No! Dodge left!'_

Vulpix blindly jumps several meters to the left, but Rocktomb doesn't land on the spot she vacated. Instead, a half-second after she lands, the Rocktomb falls out of the raging Sandstorm from above and smashes into her, knocking the breath from her lungs and sending her down with her legs spread.

One rock lands right on a hind leg with a sickening _crack!_ And thus Lee knew how Rocktomb caused its slow-down effect.

Vulpix lets out a scream and her trainer can feel her white-hot pain lancing up his own leg.

The noise makes Lee's stomach churn and he's tempted to call the match right there, only for Vulpix to telepathically shout-down the idea.

She's not about to give up on such an important battle.

Gritting her teeth, the vixen pulls her broken leg out from under the boulder that trapped her, uncaring of the pain and broken bones. She stands, favoring her good hindleg, but stands nonetheless.

The Sandstorm howls again and forces her to shut her eyes.

' _Shit, if she can't see, she can't aim. Even her pyrokinesis is useless without a way to accurately direct the fire.'_ Lee eyes the barely visible Nosepass quickly hovering side-to-side to foul any blind projectile shots, silently marveling at the pokemon's sheer willpower. _'Wait, if she can't see him, but I can...'_

Lee tugs Vulpix's mind with his own, and the vixen follows along easily. Now so close mentally, the phantom sensations he gets from her seem stronger than ever, making his whole body ache and leg throb. It takes a moment and a little help from her, but he finds her sense of sight.

Then he plugs her sight into his.

Her surprise is almost tangible, and physically, she almost lets her jaw drop a little before remembering the raging sand. Inside his own head, Lee can _feel_ Vulpix watching through his eyes.

Lee moves his gaze to Nosepass, and Vulpix smiles in understanding.

"Rocktomb, Nosepass!"

' _Wait for it, then Ember.'_

Eyes still closed, Vulpix waits, and when she doesn't move, Nosepass fires his attack into the Sandstorm. Waiting until she sees the rocks moving through the sandstorm, Vulpix sidesteps out of the way with just inches to spare. Then she rears her head back and fires a barrage of fireballs into the Sandstorm.

Roxanne's voice is barely audible over the storm. "Good dodge, but I'm afraid blind fire isn't going to wo-!"

The Embers all track Nosepass through both the sand and his evasive movement, smashing into him with a staccato of explosions. He cries in his sharp keen and the Sandstorm begins to fade before dying entirely.

As the last Ember pops against Nosepass's large nose, the compass pokemon lets out a long groan before falling down to his stubby legs, falling over with a thud a second later, unmoving.

' _Did we do it? Did we win?'_

The entire field is silent. Lee looks up at the class and sees each and every one of their faces is stunned. Roxanne likewise looks at her fallen pokemon with disbelief. Vulpix finally breaks the quiet by panting, her whole form shaking and exhausted.

The referee finally blinks and regains her wits. "U-uh. Nosepass is unable to battle, Vulpix and Mister Lee are the winners!"

The bleachers break out into wild cheers, some of the kids accidentally throwing their notebooks out of their laps as they stand to applaud. Their words are so rapid and mixed together that Lee can't really make out what is being said.

Vulpix limps her way to her trainer's side, sitting and looking as dignified as a fox that got into a fight with a giant magnet could.

' _Which is to say still pretty dignified. You're the best love,'_ Lee grins as the rush of a hard-fought victory hits him. _'We did it. We did it! We beat a_ _ **Gym Leader**_ _who was going_ _ **all-out**_ _!'_ If it wouldn't jostle her broken leg, Lee would have picked the vixen up and hugged her tight.

Vulpix settles with a pleased snuffle through her still-smarting nose and leans into his leg.

"I have to say, I... wasn't expecting that."

Lee looks up as Roxanne walks up. Behind her the field is empty, and he watches her deposit a shrunken pokeball into her pocket. For a moment she stares at Lee before sighing. "I suppose I set myself up for a downfall with my theatrics," she says, letting a smile form on her face. "Mister Henson, I, Roxanne of the Rusboro Gym, am happy to present the Stone Badge to you for your victory," she holds out a hand, upon which a shining Stone Badge lay.

Lee takes the badge gingerly, almost not believing it. At that moment, the events of the past two months finally come into focus for him.

He is a pokemon trainer with a whole world of opportunity before him, his childhood fantasy. He and his beloved team have defeated a Gym Leader, and his journey to be the very best is actually underway.

It almost makes him forget about-

He shakes the thought away. Now is not the time for that.

Lee offers the Gym Leader a wide smile and slips the badge in his pocket. "Thank you, Roxanne."

Her expression brightens. "Come by the gym later, and I can transfer your prize money and give you your TM."

"Now that was quite the incredible show!"

Roxanne looks behind Lee with wide eyes and the entire watching class gasps as one.

Slowly turning, Lee isn't sure if some higher power is purposely throwing curveballs at him or not.

Smiling wide with an absolutely titanic Metagross behind him, Steven Stone himself takes a step forward. "Roxanne! It's been some time since I've seen you cut loose like that. I hope you don't mind my eavesdropping, but when I saw you teaching this battle class, I thought Metagross and I would watch for a bit. I'm rather glad we did now!"

Behind him, the metal behemoth rumbles at his name, shaking Lee down to his bones

Roxanne recovers much faster than Lee does. "It's no problem, Steven. We're always glad to have you here at the school. When did you get back to Rustboro?"

"Metagross Teleported us in this morning," the man explains, running a hand through his steel-blue hair. "Just some business at Devon that needed my attention. So, who is your challenger here?" He asks, taking in Lee and Vulpix carefully.

Over his shoulder, Metagross's red, glowing eyes lock onto the man and fox as well, his stare even more penetrating than his trainer's. Under the red eyes, Lee can practically feel himself being peeled back layer by layer, exposing him to the titanic pokemon like a book. Lee gulps as he looks back at the nearly seven-foot-tall pokemon. One thing jumps out at him instantly.

All veteran pokemon have scars or marks from hard battles, Steel types included. Marks like that can be hidden or healed for vanity, but battling pokemon often wear them like badges of honor to show they fought hard and won.

Metagross's armored form is _immaculate_.

' _Holy shit, we're going to have to fight this monster one day.'_

In the back of his mind, he feels Vulpix's telepathy jump and lash _outward_ at something with a scowl. Shortly after, Metagross's gaze shifts to Vulpix with a rumble and the horrid feeling of exposure fades.

"This is Lee Henson," Roxanne's voice pulls him from his thoughts as she gestures to him with a hand. "A researcher and Lab Trainer working under Professor Birch. He kindly agreed to help me with today's class. And speaking of..." She turns to her pointing and whispering class. "Please excuse me, I need to finish up here. Okay class! I hope everyone took notes, as we're goi-"

Steven turns to Lee, reaching a hand out. "Lee is it? A pleasure to meet you."

With an almost dry gulp, Lee take's the Champion's hand and shakes it. "Y-Yeah, same to you."

The Hoenn Champ crosses his arms and taps a foot in thought. "Ah! I **do** remember your name passing by my desk! A refugee from an isolated region, yes? How are you liking Hoenn?"

"It's already home," Lee replies, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets so as to not twiddle them nervously.

Steven's smile is bright. "I'm glad to hear it. Yours and Vulpix's ending move was incredible! How did she curve those Embers? And your telepathy is very advanced for a new trainer."

"How did you know about th-" Lee stops himself and looks at Metagross. "Right, Psychic-type ace. Anyway, as I told Roxanne, one of the facets of my research is pokemon technique modification and experimentation. I was told by Birch that I have an...unusual way of looking at things, and he offered me his sponsorship on the condition I conduct research for him. Vulpix curving her Embers is one of the modified moves we've created with others in the works."

Steven nods and rubs his chin. "Interesting... I don't think I've met a researcher with a focus like that. I'll be looking forward to seeing how far you go in the gym circuit," He glances back to Roxanne with a small smile. "But considering you bested Roxanne's personal pokemon, maybe I should say I look forward to seeing you in the Ever Grande Conference."

' _And now the Champion knows who I am and is watching. Shit. Goodbye any chance of surprising him.'_

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Lee sighs. He looks down when he feels Vulpix lean into his leg. The poor vixen looks ready to collapse on her feet. "Shit, sorry love," He draws her ball. "We'll get to the Pokemon Center soon. Return,"

With a red flash of light, Vulpix is safely in her ball.

"Ah, how rude of me," Steven laughs nervously as Lee clips Vulpix's ball to his belt. "Your pokemon must be tired. I'll let you get to the Pokemon Center. Before you go through, take this."

He reaches into his breast pocket, drawing Lee's eyes to the gleaming pin topped with a Megastone upon the front, and withdraws a card he hands to Lee.

Looking it over, the scarred trainer finds it's a heavily personalized business card, similar to Roxanne's but much more extravagant, fitting a Champion. Upon it is an email and a phone number.

"I've got to get going, the League is a needy bunch and I'm probably late for a meeting. We'll keep in touch," Steven says, turning and waving. He and Metagross glow a brilliant corona of colors before vanishing.

* * *

"No way! You got to skip the gym line _and_ meet Steven Stone!?"

Lee sits back against the headboard of the comfy hotel looking at the new smartphone in his hand. Roxanne's prize money wasn't a ton, but the $1500 gave him enough to get a good device with a fair amount leftover. In his lap, Vulpix dozes under gentle strokes of his free hand. Her left hind leg is tightly wrapped in white bandages, compete with a stern 'no strenuous activity for three days' order from Nurse Joy.

"I did," Lee confirms Brendan's question, looking over at Brendan and Zinnia, who are seated on opposite sides of the other bed. "I was just at the right place at the right time...Or the wrong place at the wrong time..." He grumbles. "I'm not exactly happy that the Champion has his eye on me. I was hoping to surprise him when we made it through the Ever Grande Conference, but I guess that's not happening now."

Zinnia hums and rocks back. "If you make waves, he's going to figure out something was up with you anyway. The Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champ have to talk to each other, right?"

Lee feels his face go white. "Oh, fun. The others will be expecting us then..."

"That's such bull that you got to skip ahead, though!" Brendan bulldozes in, unconcerned about the Gym Leaders possibly upping the challenge. "I'm not set to battle Roxanne until Thursday morning!" He claws at his hat and falls into the bed back-first. "Aarrrgh!"

"Don't be so eager, if she finds out you're Birch's son and a Lab Trainer too, she's going to put you through the ringer." Lee says with a shake of his head. He looks down at the pizza place website and the little 'Confirmed!' message that popped up before navigating away to the Rustboro trainer school site. The newest recording is none other than this battle. "Dinner is on its way. In the meantime, it looks like they uploaded our fight against Roxanne. Take a look at the fun you have to look forward to."

He tosses the phone to Brendan, who catches it and eagerly hits the play button as Zinnia curiously watches over his shoulder.

Lee relaxes and pulls Treecko and Corvisquire's balls from his belt, popping them open and releasing them on the bed. The pokemon materialize in flashes of white. Cool yellow and burning red eyes look at Lee, who looks back and stifles a yawn. "Normally I'd prepare something a little more healthy, but we won a gym battle and some celebration is in order. Hope you two like pizza."

Treecko raises a brow, probably unsure what pizza even is, but Corvisquire's resting murder face actually morphs into a pleased expression.

Despite the worries of the day, they came out on top in a difficult battle, have friends all around, and have a delicious dinner on the way.

' _Another day in the world of pokemon I guess,'_ Lee smiles. _'Another day in the world of pokemon._ '


	12. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hard battle and a horrifying realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.  
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.

* * *

" _It's all still undergoing analysis by lead experts in the area." The smartly-dressed, middle-aged man says to the camera before him. "Modern analytics technology has come a long way in the on-going pursuit of better understanding Psychic pokemon, with the acclaimed Dr. Cyan's recent advancements in EEG machine manufacturing as the spearpoint of continued research. These specialized EEGs can read a much wider range of brainwaves, peeling back some of the mystery. On this chart, you can see-"_

The Rustboro school video upon Lee's phone is interrupted by a little _ding!_ and an alert in the corner, showing a new text message.

From his shady spot in the grassy knoll he and his pokemon found at the edge of Rustboro, Lee groans and leans up, scooting his back against the tree. Opening the message, he sees it's from Brendan.

_Brendan: my match is soon its almost 12 your going to be there right?_

Looking up away from the phone briefly, he sees his pokemon out training. Or rather Corvisquire and Treecko are training.

Treecko glows white and dodges another set of Swift rays with his newly learned Quick Attack, moving when the rays are too close to the ground to correct their course and home back in on him, leaving divots in the grass where they explode. Treecko lands from his leap and focuses back on his aerial foe, favoring one leg over the bruised other.

Above in the sky with the sun at his back, Corvisquire cackles and swings a golden, glowing wing, sending yet another wave of starry rays down at Treecko.

Off to the side, Vulpix watches and mediates.

After days of morning training with him and Vulpix, Treecko had come to learn Quick Attack. It wasn't terribly fast, nor could he go from still to full speed like Vulpix, but it was a foundation to build upon.

And build upon it Treecko did. Quickly, at that.

Where he would be brutalized by Swift just three days ago, now he's dodging the attacks consistently, which is rather impressive considering the inbuilt homing of Swift.

Treecko expertly ducks under one incoming ray and sidesteps another, before launching himself left with Quick Attack, avoiding the main mass of Swift that would have surely tagged him otherwise.

' _But he's training until he drops each day...'_ Lee frowns as he watches. _'The thought of stopping doesn't even cross his mind...'_

High above, Corvisquire screeches, slowly becoming infuriated with the repeated misses. He winds both wings back, both of them glowing brighter than over before, then throws down a truly massive barrage of Swift.

Treecko's face hardens, the white aura of Quick Attack flaring around him again.

' _Corvisquire_ _was so eager to volunteer to help with Treecko's Quick Attack training, but now that his attacks are missing, he's getting frustrated.'_ Lee's frown deepens. In his head, he reaches out and taps the ever-present connection to Vulpix. _'Love, that's too much too fast, intercept with Ember.'_

The vixen blasts a wide net of Ember from her mouth, covering the entire area between Treecko and Corvisquire. The tiny fireballs curve into Swift's path, some missing, but the Embers outnumber the starry Swift rays at least three to one. With a great staccato of explosions, Ember and Swift cancel each other, making a hanging screen of smoke.

Treecko looks between Vulpix and Corvisquire, brows downturned and mouth drawn into a tight line. He turns his gaze to Lee with narrowed eyes.

' _...My stupid speech in the forest didn't give him some kind of complex, did it?'_ The more Lee thinks of the exchange between him and Treecko after the tree fell, the more he dislikes how he worded it. The more he dislikes how his _greed_ took hold, unable to resist the allure of a pokemon with such potential. He should have let Treecko go, they weren't meant to cross paths, but Lee promised the world to the shattered young pokemon and now that promise hangs over his head. _'He worked hard and took his training seriously under Ash, but not like this.'_

"Alrighty, everyone!" Lee climbs to his feet and pockets his phone after sending a short _'on the way'_ to Brendan. "Brendan's gym battle is coming up in a bit and we're going to go support him, so we're going to end it here for today. Treecko," The man regards the aloof green lizard, silently debating on what to say. "You're really giving it one-hundred percent every day and I'm really enjoying your progress. You got Quick Attack down at an astonishing rate, but don't overwork yourself. You don't need to go full-throttle until exhaustion."

Lee gives Treecko a wide smile, but Treecko's own lips pull down into a thin frown. Before his smile can become brittle from the silent treatment, Lee turns to Corvisquire, who lands several feet away.

"Corvisquire, your Swift was already great and is only getting better. It's a good projectile to fall back on and you use it masterfully."

The raven smugly puffs up under the ego-stroking.

"But..."

The puffed feathers quickly ruffle in agitation.

"You really need to save the brutal, all-out attacks for real matches," Lee says, slowly lowering himself to a knee and earning a glare from Corvisquire. The trainer raises his hands in a gesture of surrender and continues. "You can't blast your own teammates to smithereens," he says more gently. "All of us are in this together, and hurting a part hurts the whole here."

The bird openly sneers and turns his head away.

"You might not see it now, but you will someday," Lee finishes before standing again. _'Act up all you want, pal. I've dealt with your type before and I've yet to lose.'_ He takes a breath. "Alrighty, we'll have an early lunch then head over to the gym, sound good to everyone?"

Lee gets a pair of nods and one _slightly_ eased sneer, prompting him to unshoulder his bag and open it. In short order, he has three bowls set out each with its own unique food. Vulpix gives him a gentle smile and Treecko a simple nod before they start eating. Corvisquire meanwhile digs into his bowl without any such nicety.

As he watches his pokemon tuck into their lunch, Lee pulls his pokedex from a jacket pocket and takes the device out of sleep mode, scrolling over to the voice recorder. "Day forty-six," he leans into the tree at his back as he talks. "I should probably start doing these on my phone. My Pokegear? Is Pokegear the name or the brand? Eh, it's a phone. The pokedex is fine as for its own functions, but sending huge media files through this thing takes for fucking ever and kills the battery. Anyway, as I've noted before, Treecko's growth is nothing short of explosive. He's been working hard to master Quick Attack, and now has an adequate grasp after only a few days. He's in excellent shape and health, and I have full intention of helping him stay that way, He throws himself into training with admirable aplomb, but I have fears of him burning out." The glare from Treecko as he looks up from his food is ignored. "We'll... work on that more later. Corvisquire was already powerful at his time of capture and his performance in battle speaks volumes of his abilities. He improves quickly as well, adding power and technique to each of his moves with their repeated use. Now I just wish he would curb his enthusiasm for violence..." Lee looks over to the bird in question, who ignores him in favor of his food. "Again, we're working on it."

"On to other topics, I'm glad that both Treecko and Corvisquire are responding well to their diets. Corvisquire was easy, as I just copied Vulpix's mix with more red meat and some grains substituted with nuts. To ensure healthy armor growth upon his eventual evolution to Corviknight, who I'm told is a Steel-type, I do add some iron supplements in for him. Treecko is where I ran into issues." Lee pauses to watch Treecko take another bite of his leafy-green lunch. He does so not reluctantly, but it's obvious he doesn't particularly care for what he's eating. "I was surprised to learn the Treecko line is strictly herbivorous. I guess it makes sense given the Grass typing, but it threw me off. I admit I'm... not well versed with herbivores, as I spent most of my time working with carnivores. His mix should meet all his nutritional and calorie requirements even with his instance on harsh training factored in, but it leaves taste as something to be desired. I'll wrap this up as I've got to go. Brendan's match with the Rustboro gym leader is coming up and my team is about done with lunch. Lee, out."

Treecko is the last to finish and takes his last bite right as Lee's report ends.

"Ready everyone?"

* * *

By the time Lee and Vulpix made it to the Rustboro Gym and purchased a spectator ticket, the match was set to start in only fifteen minutes. As the pair walk in, they take in the sight of the gym, having not seen much during the brief visit to Roxanne to collect their winnings and TM.

The gym is structured like a miniature arena. There are stands with padded seats along the sides of the battleground. A few areas in the stands are devoid of human seating, instead having large padded spots for pokemon. The battlefield itself is made of the same hard-packed dirt of nearly every other battlefield Lee has seen. Milling around the battleground is a few gym staff in uniforms, a referee in a black and white shirt, and a pair of camera crews, one looking official with high-end equipment and the other one staffed by teens with an older camera. _'They're probably the ones who record fights for Roxanne and the school,'_ Lee realizes with a blink.

There is a decently large number of people and pokemon in the audience with many of the seats already taken. A sharp whistle breaks through the dull roar of the talking audience, making both man and fox look up, seeing Zinnia waving near a set of seats with pokemon access.

"What took you so long?" The Dragon tamer asks as Lee shimmies over a few people to seat himself next to her.

"We were getting some early morning training in and grabbed an early lunch before heading over," he says, bending his shoulder so Vulpix could slide down into his lap. "Brendan has been blowing up my phone with reminders all morning, so I had plenty of warning."

Zinnia nods and looks back out to the field. "How well do you think shrimpy is going to do? You barely won against Roxanne, so..."

"We were working with a type disadvantage for both battles," Lee replies with a raised brow, wrapping his arms around the vixen in his lap. "Brendan has the opposite and is working with a type _advantage_ today, and Roxanne may not use her personal team, either."

"I'm pretty sure she is," Zinnia says with a lopsided smile. "What Hoenn Gym Leader doesn't know the name _Birch_?"

' _Makes sense,'_ Lee thinks. "True," he says, looking around at all the people.

"You seem surprised by something," the tanned girl says, following Lee's gaze all around the room.

"Just surprised. I didn't realize how... _involved_ gym battles are."

Zinnia laughs. "Televising it probably earns the League big money, so why wouldn't they? I think the League is going to be mad they missed your match."

"Again, true," Lee says. "Just surprising to a bumpkin like me I guess."

The remaining seats begin to fill until most are taken by a medley of people and pokemon. A decent number of people are in suits and work uniforms with a few glancing at their watches.

' _Did they come here on their lunch?'_ Lee idly wonders. _'Can it be because it's Nigel Birch's son battling?'_

The ref near the edge of the arena glances at his watch adjusts a small microphone on his shirt collar. He clears his throat, the sound carrying over into the Gym speakers and quieting the crowd down. "Welcome, everyone, to another Gym Battle at the Rustboro Gym!" He says, walking to the center of the battlefield as the camera's focus on him. "Today's match is an official gym challenge between challenger Brendan Birch-"

A number of the watching people whisper excitedly.

"-and Rustboro's own Roxanne!" The ref finishes.

The crowd erupts into cheers when both Brendan and Roxanne enter the arena. Roxanne is the image of cool, unphased by the crowd, while Brendan is decidedly more nervous looking. The boy fiddles with the tiny microphone on his shirt and looks up at all the people with trepidation. His eyes finally land on Lee and Zinnia, silently begging for reassurance.

Lee pulls his lips up into a smile and Zinnia visibly debates with herself, probably wondering if she should be antagonistic, Lee thinks, before offering a short wave.

Brendan steadies himself and smiles back.

' _Poor kid, this is_ _ **a lot**_ _of pressure,'_ Lee sends to Vulpix, who flicks an ear in reply. _'I'm glad we just had some kids watching.'_

"Today's bout will be a two-on-two match with standard rules! Pokemon will battle until they are unable to continue or by trainer forfeit!" The ref continues. He holds an arm up and sections of the wall above the seating open up, revealing large screens. The screens come to life and display portraits of Brendan and Roxanne, each with two empty pokeball slots below them.

"Challenger Brendan may substitute mid-battle while Gym Leader Roxanne may not! Items are forbidden for this match! Trainers!" The referee gestures for both Roxanne and Brendan to step forward. "Please meet for the pre-match!"

"I said it before, I'll say it again, this is really involved," Lee says, rubbing a thumb through Vulpix's chest tuft as he watches.

Zinnia says nothing, focused on the proceedings.

Both Brendan and Roxanne meet in the center of the arena and shake hands, exchanging words too quiet to hear before splitting off to take their sides of the field.

"Pre-Battle, set!" The ref cries, chopping a hand at Roxanne. "Gym Leader, please choose your first pokemon!"

"Gladly," the teacher says, her voice now carrying over the speaker system. "Geodude, ready!"

Roxanne throws her pokeball, and out pops a familiar Geodude. The living stone is impassive in the face of the cheers sent his way.

' _The same Geodude, the one Roxanne said she recently captured for her personal team.'_ Lee squints and sees the healed gashes in the Rock pokemon's arms and side. The healed stone is a lighter shade of gray than the rest of Geodude.

"Challenger Brendan! Please choose your first pokemon!"

Brendan visibly gulps and palms a pokeball. "Shroomish! You're up!" He says, voice cracking a little over the speakers.

Shroomish appears in the field in a flash of light, looking just as stoic as Geodude. He looks around at all the people and moves his mouth in what is probably a grumble.

"Battle, set!" The referee cries, backing out of the arena and gesturing to a Gym assistant, who draws a pokeball and releases a Mr Mime. Mr Mime wastes no time and raises his hands, erecting shimmering walls around the arena that fade into invisibility shortly after.

"The battle between Challenger Brendan and Gym Leader Roxanne will begin..." The ref raises his hand.

Roxanne's eyes narrow.

Brendan's knuckles go white from clenching the pokemon in his hand.

The hand chops down. "Now!"

"Shroomish, Stun Spore!" Brendan calls the instant the ref falls silent.

"Blow it away, Mega Punch!" Roxanne counters.

Shroomish shakes a noxious yellow cloud of spores from his body and sends it right at Geodude, who cocks his glowing fist back. With a cry of "Dude!" Geodude throws his fist forward, generating a shockwave that scatters the paralytic spores.

"Now, Rock Throw!" Roxanne calls.

Faster than Brendan can react, Geodude plunges his hand into the earth below and slings an earthen cannonball at Shroomish.

The mushroom deftly twirls out of the way on his short legs like a ballerina, letting the Rock Throw crash and shatter on the invisible barrier behind him. He looks back to Brendan, awaiting instruction.

Brendan shakes himself from his stupor and growls. "Shroomish, just like we practiced! Close in!"

"Getting close with a status fighter like Shroomish?" Zinnia wonders aloud. "What's he doing?"

Shroomish trundles towards Geodude as quickly as his stubby legs will let him, and Geodude's face shifts into the barest hint of confusion.

Roxanne's face morphs into a frown. "Not so fast. Geodude, Magnitude!"

Geodude raises both hands and brings them down like lightning, slamming his palms into the floor.

The entire gym shakes, pulling a few screams and cheers from the onlookers as Shroomish stumbles and grimaces as the vibrations run through his body.

"Hang in there, bud!" Brendan calls. "Just remember our practice!"

' _No idea what kind of practice this is, but it sounds suicidal,'_ Lee grimaces along with Shroomish. _'What are you up to, Brendan?'_

The Mushroom pokemon keeps running, now notability slower, seemingly running right at Geodude's now glowing fist. The Rock pokemon cocks his fist back in a retaliatory strike that a disappointed-looking Roxanne doesn't stop, then unleashes his Mega Punch point-blank.

...Only for Shroomish to again twirl out of the way near-instantly, Geodude's knuckles skimming Shroomish's soft hide, all the while the mushroom spews yellow spores and engulfs both he and Geodude in a dense cloud.

The crowd roars and Lee feels his jaw drop. He doesn't even need his bond with Vulpix to feel her surprise, as her flicking fan of tails gives her away.

"Damn... That's smart." Zinnia blinks and watches as Shroomish backs away from the twitching Geodude. When she notices Lee looking at her for an explanation, she continues. "Shroomish is a squat little guy and his center of gravity is really low, so he can spin quickly and stably. It's a good sidestep maneuver that really takes advantage of his stature," the Dragon tamer says with an amused huff. "Shrimpy really thought out of the box there."

Roxanne's face is bewildered before she quickly recovers. "Geodude! Scatter the remainders!"

It takes a moment for the living rock to respond, out he throws a sluggish Mega Punch hard enough to disperse the cloud. It takes him a moment to put his arm back down and he does so with gritted teeth.

Brendan's face is beaming and his shoulders shake with so much adrenaline that Lee can almost feel it from his place in the crowd. "Now, Leech Seed!"

"Geodude, catch it!" Roxanne calls, her brows furrowed hands clenched.

Shroomish bends and shoots a single walnut-sized seed from the cap on his head. Geodude reaches up and catches it with herculean effort, crushing the seed in his hand, but Shroomosh simply fires another that hits his face. Vines sprout from the seed and wrap around Geodude, lighting up with stolen yellow energy that flies to Shroomish as yellow orbs that sink into his skin. The stone can't help but stiffen in obvious pain

"Geodude, pull it off!" Roxanne orders.

"Don't let up, Shroomish!" Brendan yells, pumping a fist. "Mega Drain next!"

Roxanne's face becomes grim.

Geodude struggles in the vines and his own paralysis then lets out a yell of pain when the mushroom pokemon points his crown-like cap at Geodude, pulling even larger globes of yellow away from the Rock-type. After several seconds of torture, Geodude rips the vines off of him and hurls himself backward, throwing himself out of Mega Drain's range. He lands several yards back and regards Shroomish warily, taking harsh, struggling breaths all the while.

"I must admit, it's rare to see such a battle capable Shroomish," Roxanne says in the lull, watching the little mushroom with the same level of caution as Geodude.

Shroomish meets the Gym Leader's gaze evenly.

"Heh, it took a while to get ready for this match, but I knew Shroomish wouldn't let me down!" Brendan says, casting a wide smile at his pokemon, who looks back at the boy with a small upturn of his lips.

The young Birch's smile is infectious, as Roxanne can't keep her severe look in place for long before it cracks. A moment later, she sighs and shakes her head. "This is going to make me feel a little guilty...But this would not be a challenge for you if I did not give it my all."

Brendan and Shroomish both tense up.

"Geodude..." Roxanne's eyes harden. "...Self-Destruct."

A gasp runs through the crowd and Zinnia swears under breath at Lee's side.

Geodude, face set in grim determination, launches himself at Shroomish with a desperate burst of speed as his whole body glows a sinister orange.

Lee's arms tighten around Vulpix as he screws his eyes shut and looks away.

**Flesh Cooking**

**Lungs Bur-**

Vulpix is quick to grasp his mind with her own, engulfing him in a comforting shell. A muted explosion rocks the Gym with sound and tremors as the audience thunders in reply, but Lee is so pulled inward that he barely notices.

When Vulpix finally lets him go, the Gym comes back into focus over a few seconds, first with his eyes opening to blurs that sharpen just as Brendan yells something that sounds as if he's speaking underwater, a pokeball leaving his hand that materializes into Mudkip who opens his maw in a soundless bellow. Across from the mudfish, Nosepass already hovers.

Between them, a blackened crater blemishes the arena, making goosebumps break out along Lee's flesh.

A second later, the muted sounds come back as if his ears were plugged and suddenly cleared. "Lee!" A hand grabs his arm.

The man almost jumps out of his skin and turns to his side.

Zinnia's ruby eyes bore into him with unusual intensity, her usually smirking mouth is pulled down into a deep frown. "What was that? Are you alright?"

It takes a moment for Lee to formulate a reply. "I'm fine," he croaks through his suddenly dry mouth. He grimaces and reaches into his bag at his feet, quickly drawing a bottle of water that he takes a sip from. "Just fine," he says after a gulp of water, voice more even.

The draconid woman looks him in the eye until he can take it no longer and looks away. "You're certain?"

Lee nods.

Zinnia holds her look for a moment before withdrawing her hand and slowly turning back to the battle. "If you say so..." she says, her expression giving away how unconvinced she is.

The scarred man just hugs the fox in his lap a little tighter and turns back to the match.

' _So Shoomish and Geodude went down in a double-knockout. Brendan was probably hoping to wear down Nosepass before having to switch to Mudkip,'_ He thinks to himself. _'He knows that Nosepass has Electric attacks and Mudkip can't rely on his typing here. This could get messy.'_

"Nosepass versus Mudkip, begin!" The ref cries.

"Nosepass, Spark." Roxanne calmly orders

"Mudkip, Mud Sport!" Brendan counters.

Nosepass rockets forward like a missile wreathed by a corona of sparking and snapping electricity, crashing into Mudkip and electrocuting the mudfish before he can even complete Mud Sport. Mudkip can only writhe and twitch in pain as Nosepass carries him and slams him into the barrier around the arena, throwing the breath out of him like a sledgehammer to the gut.

"Mudkip!" Brendan cries, his eyes wide as the onlookers explode into cheers.

"He's too slow..." Lee murmurs, drawing both Vulpix and Zinnia's attention. "Nosepass is damn fast with that magnetic levitation, and Mudkip isn't a slouch, but Nosepass could keep up with Vulpix and Corvisquire. On top of that, he knows Rock Polish and can get even faster. Brendan and Mudkip have an uphill battle even with a type advantage."

Nosepass finally backs off and lets Mudkip fall to the floor, and in his usual fashion, he gets to his feet without even acknowledging the electrical burn on his chest. He bellows out a challenge to Nosepass and the crowd cries out with him.

Brendan can help but grin. "It'll take more than that to beat Mudkip. Now, Watergun!"

Mudkip takes a deep breath and shoots a huge torrent of water like a demented firehose at Nosepass. Then at the last second, he closes his mouth further and narrows the Watergun into an even more powerful stream.

The Rock pokemon dodges to the side without any prompting, but still gets clipped by the Watergun when it unexpectedly changes speed mid-stream. The Watergun knocks a few chips of rock loose off of Nosepass, but Roxanne's pokemon is otherwise unhurt.

"Looks like he thought of the speed gap, too," Zinnia muses.

"Now, Mud Sport! The close-in!" Brendan orders.

"Thunder Wave, Nosepass!" Roxanne says at the same time.

Mudkip fires a torrent of water at the hard-packed dirt of the ground and throws out a cloud of mud just in time, as Thunderwave strikes the mud plume instead of Mudkip, throwing smoking clods of baked mud everywhere. Mudkip rushes through the mud an instant later, charging right at Nosepass with reckless abandon.

"Rock Tomb, then Rock Polish, Nosepass!" Roxanne calls.

Nosepass raises his arms, and a number of boulders materialize from seemingly nothing around him. He throws his arms forward and the boulders rush at Mudkip.

The water pokemon weaves between the falling boulders that hit the ground with bone-rattling crashes, slowing him long enough for Nosepass to glow brilliantly as his edges all smooth out from Rock Polish.

"Now back up and Rock Tomb again!" Roxanne orders.

Where it took Nosepass a second to charge Rock Tomb before, the attack is almost instant now. A barrage of boulders screams towards Mudkip as Nosepass hovers back to Roxanne's side of the field, sliding through the air like a knife.

Mudkip dodges one boulder, but another one smashes into him with a _crunch_ that makes the whole room wince. He rolls to his feet just long enough to duck another other boulder that scrapes one of his orange gills, leaving a bloody furrow. Then with a growl, he rears his head back and _headbutts_ the last boulder, shattering it into hundreds of pieces and opening a gash on his forehead. He raises his bloody head and bellows.

The spectators go wild and even Lee has to resist the urge to stand up and cheer. Zinnia...

"That was badass! If Shrimpy is teaching his pokemon stuff like that, then maybe he isn't so bad after all!" She shouts, standing and joining everyone.

Roxanne doesn't seem phased. "Impressive. The Mudkip line is known for their physical abilities, and yours is going places, Mr. Birch."

Brendan can't help but grin.

"It's for that reason I need to go all out."

Brendan's grin falls.

"Nosepass, Discharge!" Roxanne cries.

The compass pokemon explodes into a dome of electricity that overtakes Mudkip in an instant, making him spasm and twitch and the volts rip through him. When the brutal attack finally ends, Mudkip keeps twitching and struggling in the tell-tale signs of paralysis. The mud that was coating him from Mud Sport chips and flakes off, baked into dirt by Discharge.

"Why doesn't Roxanne just use Electric moves?" Zinnia wonders aloud. "Why not just spam Discharge and end the match if she's going all out?"

"Nosepass is a Rock-type," Lee begins, watching Mudkip struggle to his feet. "He can use electric moves, but it takes time for him to charge back up, giving Brendan a small window to work with. For actual Electric types, they charge much faster and have a much higher capacity, or so I think..." Lee thinks back to all his cramming and research in Little Root, but it seems like a lifetime ago after just a few weeks.

Mudkip finally gets up and glares at Nosepass, who gives no indication that he saw it.

Down in the arena, Brendan bites his lip, his eyes darting between his roughed-up Mudkip and the nearly untouched Nosepass with despair. He growls clenches his fist. "Mudkip! Close in!"

Mudkip, still sparking a little, powers through his paralysis and charges Nosepass at full speed, his little feet thudding across the ground in his wild haste.

"Nosepass, Sandstorm! Then Rock Tomb!" Roxanne orders, the same combo she used on Lee and Vulpix.

' _Well shit. You had a good run, Brendan.'_

A whirlwind of sand spins to life around Nosepass before expanding and engulfing a huge swath of the field in a howling, ripping desert gale.

Mudkip flinches and shuts his eyes, slowing down when the sand tears at him.

Then through the Sandstorm, a boulder falls and lands right on Mudkip with a muted _crunch_.

"No! Mudkip!" Brendan screams, reaching out a horrified hand but otherwise frozen.

At the sound of his trainer's voice, the Water pokemon slowly lifts the huge rock off his back and to the side with a dull _thud_. He stands with one of his front legs obviously broken and can't dodge the next rock that clips him and throws him end over end. For a moment, Mudkip lays on the ground and pants as best he can without his mouth filling with sand.

Brendan grits his teeth and seems perilously close to tears. "C'mon Mudkip! One last try! You can do it!"

On her side of the field, Roxanne shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Mister Birch, but I won't drag this out. Nosepass, Rock Tomb!"

Even in the whistling of the sandstorm, Rock Tomb can be heard flying through the air to finish off the mudfish pokemon.

Brendan screws his eyes shut. " **Mudkip!** "

Mudkip's eyes shoot open, and white light engulfs him.

' _No fuckin' way,'_ Lee feels his eyes widening. _'This is some anime clutch bullshit. Brendan, you are one lucky kid.'_ He turns to Zinnia, who looks just as astonished.

Mudkip's form morphs and grows, limbs thickening, forelegs turning into forearms, hindlegs moving to stand upright, tailfin splitting into two, one-and-a-half foot form growing to just shy of three...

With a roar, the newly evolved pokemon lashes out with a forearm and turns an incoming boulder to gravel in a single punch before the light of evolution fades, revealing a snarling, unscathed Marshtomp. Three more boulders fly from the sandstorm, all of them destroyed with a single punch each, throwing rock fragments everywhere.

Brendan blinks and rubs his eyes, as if not believing what he's seeing.

Marshtomp turns and looks at Brendan, the same savage grin he had as a Mudkip etched on his face.

The boy can't help but grin back. "Hell yeah! Now _thats_ what I'm talking about! Marshtomp! Rush him down!"

Marshtomp bellows a deep note and surges forward into the sandstorm, now totally unbothered.

Roxanne's sweating brow furrows. "Nosepass..." she hesitates. "End Sandstorm and circle around with Rock Tomb!"

' _Now that Marshtomp is part Ground, all her Electric moves go out the window. What a turnabout.'_ Lee sends Vulpix, who is too glued to the fight to reply.

Sandstorm dies down, showing Nosepass quickly levitating away to flank Marshtomp, Rock Tomb charged and mid-firing.

"I'm sick of Rock Tomb!" Brendan yells. "Marshtomp, catch Rock Tomb and send it back!"

Roxanne's eyes shoot open in alarm.

Nosepass fires his boulders, sending them hurtling towards Marshtomp, who sidesteps one, two, three boulders. On the last, in an incredible feat of strength, he _catches_ the boulder nearly as large as himself in both of his hands, skidding back only a few inches. With his loudest bellow to date, the mudfish raises the huge rock over his head and hurls it back at Nosepass just as fast as it came.

Nosepass moves to the side but still takes a glancing blow from the rock, shattering it and sending him spinning to the ground.

"Marshtomp. Mud Slap!"

"Nosepass, get up!"

Marshtomp rushes in just as Nosepass begins to hover back up and slaps a water-coated hand along the dirt ground, throwing up a thick wall of mud that slams into Nosepass like a run-away truck, throwing the Rock-type all the way into the barrier. The compass pokemon sinks to the ground but quickly hovers back up, though with a noticeable wobble.

"Sudden evolution or not, we're not about to give up!" Roxanne calls, "Nosepass, Double-Edge!"

Brendan's grin turns brittle. "Uh oh."

Nosepass shoots forward headfirst like a bullet, smashing into Marshtomp's stomach and knocking the wind out of him. The tackle is so fast and violent that Marshtomp is picked up off his feet and smashed into the psychic barrier again for the second time in the match.

The mudfish gets his fight back quickly and punches Nosepass several times with his powerful fists before finally blasting Nosepass with a point-blank Watergun, shaking off the compass pokemon.

Nosepass backs up, letting Roxanne order him again. "Double-Edge!"

Marshtomp crosses his arms in a block and takes the bone-rattling blow again with a wince when he's crushed into the psychic wall again.

"Marshtomp, you can pull through! They can't!" Brendan orders, smiling.

' _Some kind of code phrase?'_ Lee wonders. _'But what move would...!'_

Marshtomp falls to his knees and takes another Double-Edge with a grimace, his arms shaking. When Nosepass winds up for attack again, Marshtomp suddenly stands and cocks back a brightly glowing fist.

' _Bide. Damn good move.'_

Marshtomp roars and throws his fist forward like a meteor to meet Nosepass's Double-Edge. For a half-second, time seems to slow, then the point of contact between the two pokemon explodes in a dramatic plume that fills the whole arena with dust and shakes the Gym to its core.

After a long minute, the dust begins to clear, showing a bruised and panting Marshtomp...

...Standing over an unmoving Nosepass, whose rocky shell is covered in spiderweb cracks.

The referee holds up three fingers and counts them down. Three, two, one. A horn sounds over the speakers. "Nosepass is unable to battle! Marshtomp and Brendan Birch win! The challenger is the victor!"

The crowd, Lee and Zinnia included, rise and give a deafening ovation for the winners. The barriers shimmer and fall, letting Brendan race into the arena and hop the crater in the middle to pull Marshtomp in a hug. The pokemon totally ignores his bruising to hug his trainer back.

Roxanne sighs and recalls Nosepass, saying something quietly to the ball before shrinking it and putting it away. She clears her throat in her microphone and everyone quiets down. She makes her way to the center of the arena and offers Brendan and Marshtomp a smile. "Brendan, you, Shroomish, and Marshtomp battled well today, better than I could have ever hoped. With a combination of strategy, power, and close bonds, you've overcome your first Gym challenge and show everyone how bright the future is with young trainers like yourself rising to take the mantle one day. I am happy to present you with the Stone Badge."

She holds out a hand, where the glittering Stone Badge lay, letting Brendan take it gingerly. The boy can't help but grin like a loon and raise it over his head to the crowd, who cheers again.

* * *

"Oh jeez, I wasn't even the one battling and I'm beat..."

Lee watches Brendan lean back on the bench outside the Pokemart he, Brendan, and Zinnia visited after Brendan dropped his pokemon off at the Pokemon Center. Marshtomp just needs rest, but Shroomish needed a longer visit after taking a Self-Destruct.

"High-stress battling does that," Zinnia comments, finishing off the soda she got from the Pokemart and throwing it into a trashcan by the sidewalk. "Just your body pumping adrenaline tires you out."

"I was the same way after my battle with Roxanne," Lee says, petting the dozing vixen in his lap as he watches the people and pokemon walk by on the street. A few of them had come up earlier to ask for pictures with Brendan, who bashfully accepted. _'Being in the Gym Circuit kind of turns you into a pro athlete I guess.'_

"I still can't believe that Mudk- er, Marshtomp evolved mid-battle," Brendan says, rolling Marshtomp's ball in his hand with a mystified expression. The ball shakes in reply, making him smile.

"Whatever you're doing with him, it must be working. I imagine that Shroomish and whatever pokemon you catch next will be following along shortly," Lee says, turning to Brendan with a smile.

The boy rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh. I've, well, kind of been winging it and maybe copying you a little, Lee. You're the best trainer I know, after all." He steadfastly ignores Zinnia's raised brow and cleared throat. "Best I know," he says again.

Lee blinks at the unexpected admission as warmth blooms in his chest. "Well, uh. Thanks, Brendan. That means a lot to me, even if I'm pretty mediocre."

Brendan just rolls his eyes. "C'mon man, just take the compliment. I mean it."

The scarred trainer exhales a half-laugh and smiles. "Alright, don't get so huffy."

Brendan grins back and reaches into his bag to fish out a slim aluminum case, popping it open to admire the Stone Badge resting within again. Besides the badge, seven empty slots await.

' _A hundred and fifty fucking credits for a League branded badge case. The League really knows how to rip that paycheck right back out of you,'_ Lee thinks with a scoff. His own Stone Badge simply rests in an inner pocket in his bag. _'I have to admit, it does look nice, though.'_

Then with zero warning, a hand reaches out from behind them and snatches the badge case right out of Brendan's hand.

"Hey!" Brendan cries, whirling around to see a man in a red hoodie booking it down the street in a full sprint, pushing startled people out of his way.

"Oh no you don't!" Lee snarls, palming Corvisquire's ball and standing. Behind him, a grim-faced Zinnia takes a pokeball of her own. With a mighty hurl, Lee sends his pokeball high, where it pops open and lets out Corvisquire with a loud cry.

"Corvisquire! Don't lose the guy in the red!" Lee yells. Corvisquire caws in reply and zooms after the thief. "C'mon!"

Brendon is on his feet and racing towards the man in red before Lee can even finish his last word, his expression equal parts rage and terror at the sudden theft.

Lee runs after the boy, giving Vulpix just enough time to climb on his shoulder, with Zinnia trailing not far behind.

The thief is quick, jumping over benches, dodging people and pokemon, sometimes running in the road between cars, and ducking whenever Corvisquire comes down to take an angry swipe at him. He moves at full tilt, forcing his pursuers to do the same as they all run deeper into Rustboro.

"Stop! Thief!" Brendan yells, pumping his arms and legs even faster, slowly pulling away from Lee and Zinnia.

Lee feels his lungs begin to burn from the running and his limbs slowly begin to feel heavy. He dodges past several people, almost tripping and eating cement for his trouble. With a growl, he calls up to Corvisquire. "Corvisquire! Knock him down!"

The crow lets out a shrill shriek and dives again, making the thief tense and get ready to duck.

It would have worked had Corvisquire not aimed for his legs.

The man is swept off his feet by the bird, tripping and falling to the sidewalk with a pained grunt. The badge case slips from his hand and tumbles along the sidewalk to a stop. He gets up to grab at it again, but Brendan blows past him to scoop the case up off the ground. The boy, red-faced and panting, holds the case to his chest and glares at the thief with more anger than Lee has ever seen on him.

The man gets up, his hood falling to reveal a scraggly street tough just as Zinnia, Vulpix, and Lee stop before him. Corvisquire comes down and lands, flanking the man and cutting off any escape routes.

The thief in red growls and looks around at all the people stopping to watch the spectacle. He backs up into the street from his place on the sidewalk but stops when Corvisquire flutters over the sidewalk across the street to block him. "I can't leave without that badge, kid. Hand it over." he says, reaching into his hoodie pocket.

Lee freezes. _'Oh shit, he's got a gun._ ' When the man pulls out a pair of pokeballs, the zoologist breathes a sigh of relief. _'Thank god... Wait, pokemon are more dangerous than any gun. Shit, again.'_

"Back up!" Zinnia shouts, fanning her arms out to ward away the bystanders, who all wisely comply with fearful chatter.

The thief throws the pokeballs in his hand, both bursting open midair.

One materializes into a Houndour, and the other into a Buizel.

The Houndour snarls and the Buizel gazes at everyone with a reluctant stare, not a single sign of aggression.

' _Yellow teeth, patchy fur, underweight, these pokemon are not well cared for,'_ Lee frowns. _'I'll have to see if the League places criminal pokemon in rehab homes after this.'_

"Vulpix, run damage control for Houndour's fire attacks, Corvisquire, makes sure no one runs," Lee says, reaching for his final pokeball. Vulpix slides off his shoulder and takes several steps back, watching Houndour carefully as Corvisquire's eyes narrow at being sidelined.

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you got, pal!" Brendan says, unclipping Marshtomp's ball. "Marshtomp! You're up!"

Marshtomp appears before the thief's pokemon, still covered in battle damage from his Gym battle against Nosepass, with a loud, echoing cry that makes both pokemon flinch.

"Treecko, get ready!" Lee throws his pokeball too.

The wood gecko takes form next to Marshtomp, regarding his opponents with dismissal. Instead, he turns his envious eyes to Marshtomp and clenches his jaw so minutely that Lee almost misses it.

Houndour's bravado lessens when faced with Treecko and Marshtomp, and Buizel just closes his eyes with a long-suffering sigh.

"Buizel, Aqua Jet! Houndour, Ember!" The thief opens up with a yell.

"Treecko, intercept Buizel!" Lee wastes no time countering.

Treecko zooms forward in a Quick Attack and meets the water-coated Buizel in the middle of the makeshift street battlefield, the pair struggling for a moment before Treecko overpowers Buizel. The water weasel is knocked aside and thrown down hard to the hot asphalt. Treecko doesn't give Buizel a moment to rest and uses Absorb without any prompting. Buizel squeals and writhes in pain as his life energy is stolen away from him.

Meanwhile, Marshtomp steps up before Houndour, taking the Ember attack meant for Treecko without even a flinch. The mudfish even has the gall to croak out a mocking laugh. Vulpix's Ember is thrice as powerful on a bad day!

"Is that your best?" Brendan taunts with a laugh of his own. "Marshtomp, Watergun!"

"Shit! Houndour, run!" The man in red yells.

The dog pokemon tenses to leap away, but Marshtomp's Watergun is far too fast. It catches Houndour just as he jumps, battering and throwing the yelping canine down the street until he rolls into a mailbox with a painful _clang,_ leaving a body-sized dent.

Lee winces. _'Shit. I hope we don't have to pay for any damages...'_

Buizel finally musters up the effort to fire a Watergun at Treecko, who cancels Absorb and ducks the attack with room to spare. He leaps back to Lee's feet, looking at his trainer and awaiting an order. Buizel, meanwhile, slowly gets to his feet.

The cocky look on the thieving trainer's face is now absent, replaced now with naked panic. "H-Houndour, get up! Buizel, uh..." He stutters. "Use Swift on both of them!"

Buizel grits his teeth and whirls around, shooting a fan of shining rays at Treecko and Marshtomp.

Treecko steps _into_ the rays and weaves around them, doing so easily after having to face Corvisquire's much faster, deadlier version. The Swift rays can't turn fast enough and most crash into the ground with pops, kicking up loose asphalt.

With another croaking laugh, Marshtomp simply bats the Swift out of the air with barely a wince when the Swift hits his arm.

The few fliers are quickly taken care of by well-aimed fireballs from Vulpix before they can hit someone.

Buizel's furry shoulders slump in disbelief while his trainer can only gape.

Back near the mailbox where he impacted, Houndour limps to his feet, favoring one hind leg over the other. He regards Lee, Brendan, Treecko, and Marshtomp with his head low and ears laid back, all his bravado dead.

' _What was this guy expecting when he stole from a kid who just beat them Gym?'_ Lee wonders. _'Did this guy have any idea what he was getting into? It can't be th-'_ Then a thought strikes him. _'Oh. Gym Leaders use underpowered teams to issue challenges. This guy didn't know we fought Roxanne for real...'_

"Treecko, finish this with Quick Attack."

Before Buizel can react, Treecko blitzes him with Quick Attack, knocking the breath from his lungs and throwing the weasel end over end. He lands nearly twenty feet away, unmoving and breath coming out in sharp gasps.

Houndour needs only to look at his fallen teammate for a moment before laying down submissively and whimpering, trying to shrink under Marshtomp's savage visage.

The thief blinks, as if not understanding what just happened. He looks between his fallen Buizel and his surrendering Houndour, mouth dropping open in surprise.

Brendan grins. "Busted. Give it up, creep."

Shrill whistles cut through the air as someone pushes their way through the gathered crowd. "Everyone put your hands in the air! You're all under arrest for unlawful battling in city limits!"

Rustboro's Officer Jenny pushes her way into the circle that formed around the battle with a Growlithe hot on her heels. Her angry hazel eyes scan over the silent crowd. "Well?! Is someone going to explain or do I have to force it out of you?"

* * *

"Here are your IDs back, boys."

Lee idly takes his ID back from Officer Jenny as he watches the red hoodie thief be loaded into a squad car by a regular officer. The Buizel and Houndour were easily contained by their balls thanks to their injuries, but their ultimate fate is still a mystery to him.

"We can't charge you with anything since you're League lab trainers acting as peace officers, but try to avoid damaging things next time," Jenny says dryly, glancing at the dented mailbox another officer is photographing.

Brendan has the decency to look sheepish.

"Any idea what the guy's motive was?" Zinnia asks from her place at Lee's side.

Jenny looks at Zinnia with a raised brow before turning her gaze to Lee.

"She's with us," he confirms. "It won't hurt to tell her."

The police officer nods. "He said his tomfoolery was to impress a recent radical eco group called 'Magma', as they want some sort of merit before they admit members.-"

The world slows to a stop for Lee as he focuses on four words Jenny said in particular.

" _Radical eco group."_

...And _**"Magma."**_

' _Holy fucking shit, I totally forgot about them,'_ Lee feels dread pool in his stomach like ice water. _'Those maniacs Magma and Aqua are going to try and tear apart the world, and I've already fucked up the timeline just by being here. God only knows the damage I've caused by_ _ **catching Ash fucking Ketchem's Hoenn ace.**_ _Jesus Christ, Lee, what is wrong with you?!'_ From his shoulder, Vulpix presses her face to his cheek to try and ease the turmoil, but only succeeds in taking the barest edge off.

'-We're about to upgrade them to a gang if this keeps up. My guess is he wanted to pose as a trainer who got a badge." Jenny finishes.

Lee has to bite his tongue to stop himself from _insisting_ that Magma be sent right to the top of Hoenn's threat list as terrorists. How would he explain what he knows?

"Tch, what a loser," Brendan says, leaning back with his hands behind his head. "C'mon, did some two-bit gangster wannabe really think he could beat _us?_ "

"One Gym win and it goes to your head," Zinnia scoffs with an unladylike snort. "Oh Shrimpy, the world is going to chew you up."

"Again with the shrimp thing!" Brendan turns to Zinnia, staring daggers at her. "You're like three inches taller than I am, thats hardly tall!"

"Taller than you," she smirks.

Brendan wrings his fingers like he wants to strangle the tanned woman while Jenny watches bewildered.

' _Joy, a crisis is slowly moving it's way towards us and these two are my back-up.'_ The scarred man screws his eyes shut and tries to fight away his blooming headache. _'Love? I'm sorry in advance for being a needy bastard, but you're the only one I can rely on around here.'_

Vulpix lets out a scratchy, vulpine chortle.


	13. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has their own reason to fight, and those reasons are as numerous as stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> It's been a minute. Life be nuts. I wanted an update out on Sept 19 2020, the first anniversary of this literary atrocity, but it just be that way sometimes. I cross-post to a few places, and Borne of Caution recently became to #10 most followed Pokemon fic on ff.net. Insanity 
> 
> Thanks for being with me along the way. Anyway, this is a transition chapter so it blows. Sorry(?).

* * *

" _...Magma and Aqua, huh?"_

Lee nods, but remembers that Birch can't exactly see him on a normal phone. "Yeah," he says, glancing over to the rest of the people in the Rustboro Pokemon Center from his spot in the corner. "Sorry Professor, I just sort of... forgot in all the excitement of the last few weeks."

" _It's fine, Lee."_ Birch says back. The professor is quiet for a moment, seemingly troubled. Then he lets out a sigh. Lee can vaguely hear the man stroke his short beard in thought. _"I can't very well force this issue, law enforcement is out of my jurisdiction, but I'm going to tip off my League contact that Magma and Aqua may be a bigger threat than originally expected."_

Lee blinks. "You can't take this to the Elite Four or Steven Stone?"

" _I can, but its going to look very suspect if I say my newest trainer unearthed two terrorist organizations without any proof. We'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. There are a lot of channels this has to travel through before it reaches their level, and the League may start an official investigation. They'll want as much detail as possible, so review what info you can give without outing your origins beforehand."_

The zoologist frowns and rubs his face when the action pulls at his scars. "Huh. Bureaucratic red tape. Guess it can't be escaped anywhere."

The professor laughs. " _The only certain things in life are death and the government being filled with bureaucratic busybodies, or something like that. I'll get it sent up asap, and Lee?"_ Birch's tone shifts. " _I don't want to put more responsibility on you, but steer Brendan away from trouble, please? He's my only child."_

An anxious lump forms in Lee's throat. "Of...Of course, Professor. I'll do my best."

Birch is silent for a few seconds. _"That's all I can ask, really. Thanks for letting me know about Aqua and Magma. Stay safe, Lee."_

"Same to you, Professor," Lee murmurs, pulling the phone away from his ear and ending the call.

"Vul?"

Lee looks to his shoulder where Vulpix lays draped in her usual spot. "Yeah, I do believe that they're still going to be threats, even with the League aware," he murmurs, too low for anyone sans Vulpix to hear. "Trouble has a way of being persistent like that."

The little vixen frowns and flicks an ear, perfectly mirroring Lee's own expression.

"Whats with the gloomy staring contest?"

Man and fox break their eye contact to look to the side, where Zinnia strolls up. The woman stops before them and puts her hands on her hips. "Well?"

Lee grumbles and glances at the time on his phone. 4:34 pm, it reads. "Just thinking is all. I don't think the robber today is the last we'll see of Magma, so we should keep an eye out. That's what my call with Birch was about."

Zinnia scoffs and shakes her head, but stops halfway through the motion as if second-guessing herself. "Right, sure..." she replies with a slow nod, her suddenly intense eyes boring into Lee.

Lee breaks the impromptu staring contest quickly and looks away, nervousness bubbling in his stomach from Zinnia's unexpected focus. "Yeah, uh..."

' _That wasn't suspect, was it? I know she's already on to me for knowing her tribe, but a warning about criminals is worthy of scrutiny?'_

The dragon tamer eases off her glare and leans back some, stretching her arms up and letting out a yawn. "I dunno about you two, but I could use a nap after today."

"Hey! It's you again!"

Lee glances around Zinnia to the voice that called them and snorts past the sudden guilt he feels. "Good luck with that. Trouble just walked in," he tells Zinnia, who blinks and turns around.

Walking into the Pokemon Center and heading towards him and Zinnia is none other than Ash and his friends. Ash and Pikachu lead with May and Max on his heels. Brock brings up the rear just a few steps behind.

' _Why did it take them so long? We've been in Rustboro for a week now. Does the anime meander more than I remember?'_ Lee idly wonders.

"It's good to see you again, Lee." Ash greets with a smile. On his shoulder, Pikachu offers his own greeting with an enthusiastic "Pika!"

"Is this the kid you didn't want to travel with? He doesn't look like much." Zinnia bluntly asks Lee, making Ash's smile falter.

Lee elbows Zinnia in the side, making her hiss. "Can you not be rude for like five minutes? I said, and mark my words, 'A grown stranger traveling with children is going to look very strange' and I stand by that. Ash and his friends are a good sort." That restores Ash's smile.

"So how was your trip through the woods?" Lee asks, then his eyes move to Brock and Max, who look back at him curiously. "And who are the new faces?"

"It went swell!" Ash replies, a beaming smile on his face. "We had a blast! We met a ton of new pokemon and people, and on the way in we passed by a huge tree that fell. I didn't find a Treecko like I wanted, but I did find this great Seedot!"

Again, Lee's guilt at taking Ash's-HIS Treecko is like a strike to the gut. "Hah... That's great."

The young Kanto trainer then turns to his friend. "Oh yeah! You've met May-"

The girl in question offers a short wave and a quiet "Hi..." to Lee and looks away, a pink blush painted across her face.

' _Please don't tell me thats what I think it is...'_ Lee hopes to himself, feeling Vulpix's amusement bleeding over to him as May nervously twiddles her fingers. Zinnia glances at Lee with a smirk, telling him she noticed too. _'Fucking really?'_

"-This is Max Maple, May's brother," Ask introduces the smaller, bespectacled boy, totally oblivious to May's fidgeting. "He wants to be a pokemon trainer one day too, so he tagged along for our journey to see what it's like."

The small boy steps forward, smile fading as he's seemingly intimidated by the scarred man and red-eyed woman before him. "U-uh. Nice to meet you..?" He mumbles, raising a trembling hand to shake.

From Lee's shoulder, Vulpix huffs, drawing eyes to her before she leaps to the ground soundlessly. Max's intimidation is quickly replaced by wonder as the vixen walks up to him, seating herself and holding up a paw in the classic 'shake' pose.

Max is quick to take the offered shake with a budding grin, and when Vulpix doesn't protest, reaches out to pet her. She even makes a show of leaning into Max's hand. Behind him, Ash, May, and Brock brighten up at the sight.

With a short laugh, Lee takes the reigns of the conversation once more. "It's nice to meet you, Max. You've obviously met Vulpix."

The young boy nods, reluctantly pulling away from Vulpix to adjust his glasses. When his hand leaves Vulpix, she leaps back to Lee's shoulder, silently grumbling about her now mussed fur.

' _Love you, Vulpix.'_

Her grumbling continues for a moment before she acknowledges the message with a little touch of mental affection.

"And this is Brock," Ash finishes his intros, raising a hand to the tanned teen behind him. "He's a good friend I've been traveling with since my first circuit."

Brock steps forward with a hand ready. "It's nice to meet you. I've got a Vulpix myself, and it speaks a lot about you that she's so calm around strangers."

Lee takes the offered handshake with a small grin. "I assure you, she makes it much too easy for me. A normal Vulpix probably would have torched me by now."

Brock laughs. "Well now that we've got that out of the way..." He turns his eyes to Zinnia.

"Oh no..." May mutters, turning her embarrassed visage away in advance.

' _So he's already done this several times, eh?'_

"Who might this lovely flower be?!" Brock exclaims, rushing up to take Zinnia's hand, drawing the eyes of the entire Pokemon Center. Lee can already feel his face heating up in second-hand embarrassment as Vulpix just stares.

"Uhh..." Like most of Brock's 'victims', Zinnia seems stunned initially and takes a hesitant step back. "Zinnia is the name."

"Zinnia..." Brock gushes with a goofy smile. "A beautiful name for a beautiful woman..."

A moment later, Zinnia's face takes on a sickly sweet, almost vile smirk, one promising mischief. "Brock, huh?" she swoons in a manner only a love-struck fool would believe. "Oh, goodness me I've needed a man like you," she slowly looks away, a dusting of red lighting her cheeks. "The boys I've been traveling with can't appreciate the company of a woman, a woman with _needs_ like me."

Ash's crew look on, all of them visibly confused by the turn of events, and none of them getting Zinnia's undertone.

Brock, however, does. Even squinting, his eyes light up like Christmas came early. "I-I'd love to provide for you in any way I can!"

Zinnia leans in, unsubtly puffing her chest up to push out her bust against her already tight shirt. "Really?"

"Really!" Brock agrees, head little more than a blur as he nods along.

"Well," Zinnia coyly looks away with a smile. "There is this TM for Dragon Pulse in the Pokemart..."

"Begone, **thot**!"

Zinnia yelps when someone grabs her cloak and physically pulls her away from Brock, leaving the tanned teen dumbfounded.

Lee turns, finding a scowling Brendan with the end of Zinnia's cloak balled up in his hand. "Don't try and pull that on the poor guy! He obviously doesn't know any better!"

"You little shit!" Zinnia whirls around to pull Brendan in a headlock with an irritated growl. Brendan struggles and cries out in pain when the draconid woman drags her knuckles across his skull in a violent noogie.

"Let go of me, woman!" Brendan coughs as he tries to pry himself from her grasp. "Ever heard of deodorant? Your pits stink!"

"Fucking..." Zinnia redoubles her abuse, making the young Birch flail.

Lee turns to the now sobered Brock and the rest of the kids with a fragile smile. "This is what I travel with. Fun, right?"

May takes her hands off of an annoyed Max's ears with a frown. "Foul-mouthed, more like."

"Oh, get over yourself, girly," Zinnia says, finally letting Brendan go. The boy grumbles and takes off his hat to fix his hair as Zinnia levels May with a raised brow. "Hang out with Mister Henson here for any length of time, and you're going to hear a real potty mouth," she points a thumb at Lee.

May's ire settles in record time as she glances Lee's way. "W-Well, a little is okay I guess if it's not too much..." She murmurs, looking down at her feet and poorly hiding her pink face.

Lee stifles the instinctive response to call Zinnia something unflattering and just sighs. "So, Ash. Taking the gym challenge in Rustboro?"

"You know it!" Ash grins, Pikachu adding his own short cry to the reply. Ash's grin falls a little when he pulls a little card from his pocket, a gym acknowledgment like Lee and Brendan got. "We have to wait five days though..." He mutters.

Brendan finally finishes fixing his hair and joins the rest of the group's little circle. "Yeah, there are record numbers of trainers starting this year," he says, replacing his white beanie back onto his head. "The wait times are expected to only go up as the year goes on."

Ash groans and slumps. On his shoulder, Pikachu pats his trainer's cheek with a paw to try and console him.

"That's pretty inline with my time as a Gym Leader," Brock chimes in with a nod. "Though, I think Kanto has a larger population of trainers than Hoenn, so give or take a few days."

"But I didn't have to wait for our battle?" Ash turns to Brock, a look of confusion overtaking him. "I didn't have to wait in all of Kanto, or Johto for that matter."

Brock nods. "Professor Oak's Lab Trainers get moved to the front of the line for a lot of services in Kanto and Johto, so every time you signed up for a Gym battle, you got the next spot. Hoenn doesn't practice that."

"What?!" Brendan squawks. "Why don't we get that here?! What a jip!"

"Well, I'm rearing for a battle now!" Ash looks directly up at Lee, who feels himself shrink. "I really want to see what Seedot and Taillow can do. What do you say?" On his shoulder, Pikachu's cheeks spark in anticipation.

"Fine by me."

Everyone turns to Zinnia, who smiles and takes a single step forward. "The boys had their fun with the Gym and the crook we busted, but I haven't had a good battle since I battled Lee back in Oldale. If you want a fight, then I'll be with me. I want to see what a Lab Trainer under Professor Oak can do."

The Kanto-born trainer grins and doesn't protest the opponent change at all. "Awesome! Around the back of the Pokemon Center?"

"Ash," Brock gently starts. "We need to have our pokemon treated by Nurse Joy first, remember? We were just on the road for a week."

Ash pulls the brim of his hat down over his eyes sheepishly. "Ah, right..."

"Whats this about a busted crook?" Max asks, looking towards Zinnia, who in turn glances at Brendan.

Brendan grins, dipping a hand into his bag to pull out the now scuffed badge case to show everyone. "Some dork looking to impress a gang swiped my badge, but me and Lee ran him down and beat him in a two-on-two pokemon battle. You shoulda seen it! My Marshtomp and Lee's Treecko stomped his Houndour and Buizel easy."

"We won because he was a poor trainer with weak and malnourished pokemon," Lee dryly interjects, raining on Brendan's parade and making the boy turn to him with a betrayed look. "If he had been a bit more competent, or his pokemon in better health, we could have been in serious danger, Brendan. I want to keep my near-death scrapes as infrequent as possible, thanks."

"What's wrong with a bit of danger?" Ash asks, sounding genuinely confused. He crosses his arms with Pikachu mimicking him. "We've been in a bunch of near-death situations before and gotten out just fine."

"I'm sorry, what?" May quietly asks behind him, looking over to Brock, who just chuckles nervously and shrugs.

Lee pinches the bridge of his nose and screws his eyes shut. _'That's because you and your friends have plot armor, Ash.'_ Outwardly, he sighs and opens his eyes again. "We won't keep you guys all day. We've got a few things to do today before we get back on the road," Lee shoots a look to Zinnia and Brendan from the corner of his eye, and thankfully, both get the hint and nod along. "I gotta admit, I'm looking forward to Zinnia and Ash's match, so-"

"Oh shoot that's right!" Ash needs no other prompting as he rushes to get in line for the Nurse's desk.

As he sprints to the end of the line, May turns to Brock with unease plain on her face. "Brock? What was that about the near-death situations?"

The older teen sighs and shakes his head. "Don't worry about it, May," he says, walking to join Ash.

"Normally when you tell someone _don't worry about it_ they're going to keep worrying," Max dryly comments as he and his still unsure sister follow after Brock.

Lee, Vulpix, Brendan, and Zinnia are left alone in the corner of the Pokemon Center.

"Yeah, now I know going with you was the better option, Lee," Brendan says after a long moment.

"Near-death being common for him?" Zinnia wonders aloud. "I know Oak has made some badass trainers over the years, but that seems a little..."

Lee just slowly shakes his head and reaches up to stroke Vulpix under her chin. "Now you see why I didn't want to hang out with him?" He asks, looking back to the group of kids nearing the front of the Pokemon Center line. "We're already been in a hospital fire and nearly been killed by a sky-scraper sized tree. I'm already over my quota of dumb shit for the next decade."

* * *

Less than an hour later, both groups of trainers were outside behind the Pokemon Center at the property's sole battlefield.

Standing across from each other, Ash and Zinnia both grin widely, Ash's an innocent expression of happiness while Zinnia's is much more savage, almost manic.

Off the side, Brendan, Lee, Vulpix, May, Pikachu, and Max stand as Brock moves to take the referee spot at the side of the arena.

"Why is this Zinnia lady so eager to battle Ash?" Max turns and asks Lee and Brendan with a raised brow. "She knows he's an expert trainer with like two leagues under his belt already, right?"

Brendan nods, focusing on the upcoming match with unusual intensity. "That's precisely why. Zinnia is a Dragon Tamer. Dragon-Types grow fastest in battle, and the more desperate the odds, the better the progress."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but Ash just caught the pokemon he's about to use, right?" Lee asks, getting nods from May and Max. "Let's hope he's great at planning on the fly, then. If not..."

May, who is holding Pikachu, looks his way. "If not..?"

Lee grunts. "This will be a short match. Zinnia should not be taken lightly."

At the side of the arena, Brock takes his place. "This will be a standard two-on-two match between Ash Ketchum and Zinnia. Trainers may substitute. Matches will go one-on-one until one trainer is down two pokemon. Challenger chooses first."

"Alright!" Ash takes a pokeball from his belt, complete with a dramatic hat-turn, and lobs the ball into the field. "Taillow! You're up!"

The pokeball splits open with its distinctive pop, and in a flash of white, a fluttering Taillow takes form over the field with a shrill tweet. The bird looks back to Ash, who smiles in return.

"A bird, huh?" Zinnia remarks, pulling her own pokeball from her cloak. "I'll answer in kind. Swablu! Out you go!"

Zinnia's ball is thrown just as high as Ash's was, snapping open to release Swablu in a flash of light. She trills out a light note and locks eyes with Taillow, who glares back.

Back down at the sidelines, May gasps, her eyes practically shining. "It's so cute! What is that pokemon?" she gushes, freeing an arm from holding Pikachu to pull out her Pokedex.

" _Swablu, the Cotton Bird Pokemon. Swablu is a cleanly pokemon that often lives in or near cities. If it's cotton-like wings become dirty, Swablu will diligently wash them in a source of clean water."_ The dex rattles off a little blurb and displays more details to May on the screen.

"Ready?" Brock asks both trainers, raising a hand.

"Ready!" Ask calls.

Zinnia's grin just widens.

Brock's hand chops down. "Begin!"

"Mist!" Zinnia cries.

Swablu rapidly flaps her wings, expelling a Mist so thick and opaque it looks as if it could be cut with a knife. The Mist slowly rolls over the field, more a cloud than a mist, engulfing Swablu and making its way to Taillow.

Ash doesn't sit idle for long. "Taillow! Blow it away!"

The little bird cries an aggressive chirp and flaps his wings as hard as he can, kicking up a miniature gale around himself. The supernatural Mist barely even stirs, however, instead crawling forward lethargically.

"Wha..?" Ash blinks as Taillow trills loudly and tries again, only to get the same ineffective result

"What gives? Taillow should be able to blow Mist away easily. It's just water vapor." Max exclaims.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" May chimes in, shyly looking up at Lee. In her arms, Pikachu looks just as bewildered.

When Brendan looks to him for an explanation too, Lee wracks his brain for an answer. Vulpix is quick to nose his cheek and telepathically offer what she remembers from reading over his shoulder. "Well, this is just speculation, but Swablu might be overcharging Mist with Ice or Water energy, giving it much more substance than normal. A smart move, considering Taillow is much faster than Swablu, and a beefed-up Mist is a serious speed-bump."

"But if the Mist is that thick, how is Swablu going to fight from inside it?"

Zinnia's grin takes on the same feral look it did when she and Bagon battled Vulpix. "Dragon Pulse!"

The inside of the Mist glows an ominous blue, then a second later a stream of wild, whirling blue shoots out of the cloud, engulfing Taillow with frightening accuracy. The bird screeches and flails, diving out of the Dragon Pulses way and looking painfully crispy for the effort. For a second, Swablu can be seen hovering in the cloud through the hole Dragon Pulse made before the Mist closes around her.

"What?!" Ash yells, his confusion is swiftly traded for alarm. "Taillow! Are you okay?!"

The second Taillow takes his eyes off the Mist to turn to Ash, Zinnia barks another order. "Dragon Pulse!"

The cloud glows blue, and once more a stream of spinning dragon fire shoots from it like a flamethrower, heading straight for Taillow.

"Taillow, watch out!"

Taillow spreads his wings to escape, launching up and away just in time. The Dragon Pulse hits the ground where he was a half-second later, heating it to red hot after just a few seconds. All the while, the Mist grows and eats more and more of Ash and Taillow's side of the field.

Lee watches the match closely, idly noting May and Max's wide-eyed expressions. _'I've seen Zinnia use this tactic a few times, but never with this much... hostility? She stopped using it altogether when Marshtomp learned Foresight and when you proved you could evaporate her Mist.'_ Vulpix silently agrees on his shoulder, pressing her warm, furry cheek to his as he thinks. _'How is she seeing in the Mist anyway? It's not Foresight, Swablu can't learn that... Or can she? Sounds would be a bit muted in the Mist as well, so it can't be pure hearing...'_

Taillow flits through the air in a panicked, patternless flight-path as Dragon Pulse attacks shoot from the Mist, nearly hitting him every time.

"Taillow!" Ash cries, suddenly looking determined. "Dive into the holes that Dragon Pulse makes in the mist! Then use Wing Attack!"

The bird rolls out of the way of another Dragon Pulse and charges right for the barely visible Swablu in the mist, his wings glowing a bright white.

Zinnia's grin doesn't waver in the slightest, in fact, it grows. "Swablu! Hit and Run!"

Swablu trills and dives into the thick of the Mist, Taillow just barely missing her. Taillow halts and hovers mid-air, looking around as the Mist closes around him.

Brendan hisses and Lee frowns. _'Bad move.'_

Once Taillow is obscured, there is a loud _thwack_ and startled tweet in the cloud, rapidly followed up by another, more violent _THWACK_ and a pained cry from Taillow.

_THWACK_

_THWACK_

_THWACK_

_THWACK_

Taillow is struck over and over again by Swablu from inside the dense wall of fog, and each time Taillow's cries sound lower and lower until the noise comes from ground level, then...

_**THWACK!** _

Battered and bleeding, a barely conscious Taillow is ejected from the fog, skipping across the ground, once, twice, then sliding to a stop on Ash's side of the field.

"Taillow!" Ash screams, his face screwed up in panic.

May and Max lean forward, their whole forms radiating anxiety. Even Brock's stoney face is creased in concern.

The bird pokemon's eyes snap open, taking on a determined glint. With sheer force of will, he rolls to his feet and stands, panting harshly as he does so.

Mist begins to fade, revealing Swablu still unharmed and hovering mid-air, but her tiny chest huffs and puffs rapidly.

' _I can't imagine that Swablu has the best stamina, but does holding Mist really take that much effort?'_ Lee idly wonders.

Vulpix purrs in her chest. Unbidden, images of Swablu's Dragon Pulse attacks come to mind right in the mental junction between Lee and Vulpix.

' _Good point.'_

"Taillow, are you okay to keep going?" Ash asks uneasily, clenching a fist.

Taillow turns to his trainer, the bird's eyes saying everything.

Zinnia, surprisingly, doesn't jump on the opportunity Taillow presents by turning away. Instead, she slowly frowns, a sharp contrast to her earlier visage. "You're on the ropes. What's your plan?"

' _Wrong thing to say,'_ Lee grimaces. _'I can feel Ash's plot armor activating now.'_

"Easy," Ash smiles as his eyes glint with determination. "We can be tricky, too! Taillow! Use Double Team!"

Taillow opens his wings with a loud cry, ghostly illusions taking form around him and obscuring the real Taillow. Taillow's cries seem to come from every single copy in a calamitous din.

"Now, Quick Attack!"

Zinnia openly scoffs. "Hyper Voice," she orders.

All of the Taillows rocket at Swablu from the front, appearing as if a whole flock decided to descend on a single pokemon, and all of them stop dead when Swablu opens her mouth and **screams**.

Lee flinches at both the sudden, ear-splitting noise and the phantom pain he feels from his wincing Vulpix. He brings a hand up and helps her press her ears down flat.

May and Max both yelp and clasp their hands over their own ears. Pikachu can't shoot May a look for dropping him because he too is too busy covering his long ears with his face twisted in pain. Brock simply winces and powers through it despite being closer.

Ash and Taillow...

Ash grimaces, but Taillow's doppelgangers vanish as he practically seizes mid-air. The horrid sound coming from Swablu visibility distorts the air, no doubt shaking Taillow down to his bones. He falls from the sky rigid as a corpse. It's only halfway into his fall that Swablu finally abates her attack, letting Taillow go limp. With a sad _thump_ , the bird pokemon crashes to the earth and does not rise.

One, two, three...

"Taillow is unable to battle," Brock begins, frowning as he rubs an ear. "Zinnia and Swablu are the winners."

Ash presses a hand to his forehead and gently rubs it, no doubt trying to ward away a headache. "Wow, that was some attack..." He murmurs, drawing Taillow's ball. The unconscious bird is sucked back into the pokeball as a mass of red light. "You did great, Taillow, take a long rest," Ash lets a thin smile rise to his face and he palms his next pokeball. "Seedot, you're up!"

With a throw and pop of a pokeball, a rather ordinary Seedot takes form on the field, blinking and looking back to Ash.

' _This is Ash's ace replacement?'_ Lee wonders, feeling a bead of sweat run down his face. _'Or are things so out of wack now that he'll have some other ace?'_

Zinnia stares at Seedot, then with a second's lag, pulls Swablu's ball from her belt. "I'm subbing. Swablu, return!"

As Swablu is returned, Brendan loops up to Lee with a grimace. "She's not about to use Shelgon against a _Seedot_ , is she?"

"What's a Shelgon?" Max asks, he and May turning to Brendan and Lee.

"A powerful Dragon-Type pokemon, the second of three evolutions in the Salamence line," Lee supplies, watching Zinnia draw a new pokeball. "But Shelgon against a fresh Seedot would be laughably one-sided. So..."

Zinnia throws the ball in her hand. "Out you go, Goomy!"

In a flash, the tiny, slug-like dragon takes form out in the field. He burbles and looks around, eyes landing on Seedot. Goomy quivers and sinks in on himself.

"That pokemon looks like a booger." Max blurts. Goomy seems to hear the boy as he sinks lower into himself with a sad coo.

Zinnia scowls and shoots Max a narrow-eyed glare, making him stiffen. "Goomy, get ready."

The little slug reluctantly rises back to his full but diminutive height, looking at Seedot with open apprehension in his beady eyes.

"Second match, Goomy versus Seedot, begin!" Brock chops his hand down.

"Seedot, start us off with a Tackle!" Ash takes the initiative.

"Goomy-" Zinnia can't get her full order out as Goomy squeals and sinks in on himself, shivering as Seedot sprints forward. Seedot hits Goomy head-on, but largely slides off Goomy's slick skin. Enough force is still transferred to knock Goomy back and make his body jiggle in place.

Zinnia growls. "Goomy! Dragon Breath!"

Goomy shivers and opens his mouth, a tiny green flame forming inside. He rears his head back and throws it forward, shooting a weak plume of dragon fire.

Seedot sidesteps out of the way without prompting, letting the Dragon Breath scorch the ground where he stood.

"Looks like we're the faster ones this time!" Ash exclaims, visibly pleased by the turn of events. "Seedot! Keep the momentum going with Rollout!"

The Acorn pokemon mutely falls to his side and begins to spin laterally, becoming a brown blur and throwing up rocks and dirt in short order.

Goomy squeaks and again tries to sink into himself.

Seedot shoots forward right at his foe, and Goomy either can't or won't dodge. With an almost cartoonish _splat_ , Seedot runs over Goomy and leaves the little dragon crushed flat on the ground. With a weary coo, Goomy slowly pulls himself up again only for Seedot to make a wide turn and run him down again with another _splat_. This time, Goomy refuses to get back up, staying little more than a puddle.

With a sigh, Zinnia runs her hand through her hair and looks over to Brock. "Call it, loverboy. Goomy decided that he's done."

"Uh, alright," Brock unsurely looks at Goomy, who still hasn't gotten up. "Goomy is unable to battle, Seedot is the winner."

Seedot cancels Rollout and stops on Ash's side of the field, taking a few dizzy steps before righting himself. Behind him, Ash pumps his fist with a cheer. "Way to go, Seedot!"

Zinnia returns Goomy to his ball and looks down at her hand. "C'mon, Goom. I know you can do better. Next time, okay?" She shrinks the ball and returns it to her belt, hand going back for Swablu's ball before she stops. "Hey, Ash?"

"Hmm?" The younger trainer responds, giving her his attention.

"Let's call this a draw," Zinnia closes her eyes and lets the hand hovering over Swablu's ball drop. She re-opens her eyes and levels him with an even look. "End it with a win and loss for both of us, yeah?"

"Uhh," The young Ketchum blinks, obviously caught flat-footed by the offer. "I guess that's alright..."

"Why take a draw here?" May wonders aloud. In her arms, Pikachu looks up at her with a blink.

Brendan rubs his chin with a hum. "Dunno. Swablu would have kicked Seedot's rear up and down the arena, and I know she's not doing it to be nice..."

"Alright, Seedot. You did a great job. Return," Ash holds out a pokeball and Seedot is safely stored away again. With the pokemon put away, Ash turns to Zinnia with a bright smile. "Good match," he says simply, holding out a hand for a handshake.

The tanned woman regards his hand without moving for a second, then takes the offered handshake mechanically. "Yeah, I guess."

Ash's smile falters somewhat at the answer.

The pair of trainers separate, and after a few awkward parting words, the groups split, Ash and his friends leaving to find a hotel for the night as Lee and co watch their retreating backs. Several times though, Ash looks back to Zinnia, who pretends to not notice.

Before long, it's just Zinnia, Brendan, Vulpix, and Lee behind the Pokemon Center.

"I'll go ahead and ask what's on all our minds," Brendan starts, looking towards Zinnia with a raised brow. "Why did you give up?"

"It was a draw, not a forfeit," Zinnia shoots back. She crosses her arms and frowns. "Swablu would have gained nothing from that battle. If it wasn't going to help her grow, then why bother?"

"Fun, maybe?" Brendan dryly replies. "A lot of people and pokemon battle because it's entertaining, y'know."

The draconid woman rolls her eyes. "Curbstomps aren't fun. Unlike you, I don't like my pokemon thrashing the defender in one hit. I was expecting... More."

"He did just catch those pokemon," Lee chimes in, looking between his two friends. "A fresh Taillow and Seedot aren't going to be a match for..." He pauses. "A trained Swablu," he sidesteps Goomy's embarrassing defeat at the last second. "Give it time. They'll become powerful pokemon. I doubt this is the last time we'll run into Ash and his pals."

Zinnia's un-ladylike snort tells Lee how much she believes him. "So, what's the plan from here?"

"Unless anyone else has business in Rustboro," Lee pulls his phone from his pocket and opens a map, using two fingers to zoom in on a little island. "We'll leave tomorrow for Dewford. The ferry port to Dewford Island is south back through Petalburg Woods, but Treecko will be about to cut down our travel time to just two or so days with his know-how of the forest, assuming we don't find anything interesting enough to stop for. From there, it'll be a day's ferry ride to Dewford."

The news of going to Dewford seems to pull Zinnia from her funk. She grins and her ruby-colored eyes sparkle. "Beach trip you say? Sign me right up!"

"Sounds fun!" Brendan agrees. "I bet Marshtomp would love some open ocean to explore, and the Granite Cave there is said to have Aron in it!"

Lee smiles at the enthusiasm and tilts his head to look at Vulpix, who returns his look with amusement dancing in her chocolate eyes.

"Bright and early tomorrow, then."

* * *

Consciousness comes slowly to Lee, as the first thing he notices is the smell of a spice with no name intertwined with inoffensive hotel shampoo. His eyes crack open lethargically, Vulpix's head tuft of crimson fur partially obscuring his vision of the darkened hotel room. A deeper breath through his nose tells him that the spice and shampoo smell is indeed Vulpix.

The vixen's slow breathing tickles his neck from her spot on his chest, muzzle nestled to the crook of his neck. The blanket over both he and her is overkill, as Vulpix's toasty pelt warms him better than any covering, making him almost uncomfortable with the blanket added.

Lee pans an eye around, spying Treecko laying at the foot of the bed with his arms behind his head, the slow rise and fall of his chest telling Lee that the tree gecko is in dreamland.

To the right of the bed and perched on the back of one of the hotel room chairs, Corvisquire sleeps with what has to be the most peaceful face Lee has ever seen on him. He has to blink to confirm his blurry eyes weren't just playing tricks on him.

Finally, to the left on the other bed, Brendan and Marshtomp sleep haphazardly, the boy and pokemon a sprawl of limbs and coverings. Shroomish, sitting on a claimed pillow, rests with much more dignity.

Blindly grasping for his phone on the nightstand, Lee clicks the power button, seeing _'6:55AM'_ stare back.

"Time to get up I guess," the man grumbles. He gently strokes the back of the fox on his chest. "Hey, love. Time to get up. Long day ahead of us."

Vulpix's brown eyes blink open slowly. She stands on Lee's chest and yawns, doing a full-body stretch before pulling herself out of her trainer's grasp. She hops off of Lee as he leans up and surveys the room. The movement wakes Treecko, who goes from asleep to conscious in a heartbeat. Lee stands and regards himself in the mirror of the vanity in the corner. The scarred, wife-beater-and-shorts clad man staring back looks like he needs some caffeine, more sleep, or both.

Lee turns away pads forward as quietly as he can, silently thanking the nameless designer on this earth that made kitchenettes standard in hotel rooms. He gives Treecko a pat on the head as he passes, prompting the lizard pokemon to bat at his hand in annoyance, and hooks his fingers in the top-loop of his backpack by the bed, bringing it with him.

The kitchenette in the little hotel room is equally small, being little more than an alcove with a minifridge, a small sink, a two-burner stovetop, a coffee maker, and a toaster.

Not much, but hotels that cater to trainers know their clients need only the basics.

Lee fills the coffee maker with the crummy hotel-provided grounds and turns it on. Afterward, he digs in his bag and pulls both a small pan and a large pot out, setting them on the only two burners. It only takes a nudge to pop open the mini-fridge, as it's filled to bursting with a medley of meats, vegetables, eggs, and a container of various berries.

' _Just looking at all this makes my wallet sting,'_ Lee muses, eyeing the berries in particular. _'Love hurts.'_

The kitchen prepared, the man sets about making a week's worth of food for his pokemon and breakfast for the whole group. Vulpix and Treecko lounge on the bed and watch, speaking lowly to one another.

The smell of cooking food rouses Corvisquire and Shroomish after some time. The crow pokemon looks around, his usual scowl setting into place as merely being awake ruins his day. Shroomish, meanwhile, just watches patiently.

Brendan and Marshtomp are the last to awaken, bedraggled boy and pokemon sluggishly rolling out of bed and walking like zombies towards the smell of breakfast.

"About time you two got up," Lee says, scooping some of the scrambled eggs in the small pan out onto a pair of paper plates. Brendan and Marshtomp take the food without much of a reaction, both blinking blearily. Brendan also takes the steaming styrofoam cup offered to him and absently takes a sip, only to recoil in disgust.

"Euh! What is this, boiled dirt?!" He cringes down at the cup of coffee in his hands. It's already lightened by a considerable amount of milk and sugar.

"Free is free, kiddo," Lee says, putting the spatula in his hand down to take a sip of his own, darker brew. He forces back a grimace when it goes down like... boiled dirt.

There is a knock on the hotel room door. "I smell food! Let me in!"

Treecko rolls his eyes and hops to the floor, walking over and opening the door in his trainer's stead. Zinnia, still clad in her nightclothes of a cut-off t-shirt and shorts, glides right past Treecko with Shelgon following shortly after.

Lee mimics Treecko's eyeroll and hands her a plate of breakfast with a cup of coffee.

In nine seconds flat, the tanned woman scarfs every bit of food on her plate down and drains the whole cup in one pull. "Ahhh! That hit the spot!"

"Well, that was disgusting," Lee sighs and turns back to the stove, turning the heat on the large pot of omnivore mix off as he pulls ziplock bags from his backpack.

"Real lady-like," Brendan agrees with a snort.

Zinnia smirks and turns her nose up after tossing the cup and plate in the trash. "You too wouldn't know a real lady even if one came up and kicked your ass."

"Right..." Lee mutters. "Anyway, does everyone have everything they need? Once we're in the woods, there is no resupplying without a huge detour." Inwardly, he wonders if the Super Potion he bought the day prior is overkill.

Certainly felt like overkill on his bank account.

"We've got everything," Brendan says, forcing the last of his rancid coffee down with a shudder. Marshtomp warbles in agreement. "Gunna go get ready now!" He turns and scoops up his backpack, quickly producing bowls of food for Marshtomp and Shroomish before slipping into the bathroom. The sounds of the shower starting follow shortly afterward.

Zinnia scoffs. "Even if I didn't, I'd make do. This is a beach trip we're talking about! I'm not delaying that."

Behind her, Shelgon nudges her leg and growls.

The dragon-tamer sighs and slumps. "I'll run to the Pokemart and look to make sure I didn't miss anything." She turns back to her pokemon with the beginnings of a pout. "Happy?"

Shelgon's growl sounds particularly pleased.

"Alrighty," Lee looks to his pokemon. "Anything we're missing?"

Corvisquire clicks his beak with narrowed eyes as if saying _'I would not tell you if there was.'_

Treecko simply shakes his head.

Vulpix is silent for a moment, and Lee can feel her mind churning through a checklist. As fast as she started, she makes it to the bottom of the mental list and shakes her head much like Treecko.

"Alrighty, then," The man turns to the still steaming omnivore pokemon food and bowls out two servings for Vulpix and Corvisquire as Treecko's veggie mix just comes off the stove. "Eat up and roll out."


	14. Interlude 2

Night has fallen in Rustboro city, and after the excitement of exploring a new town had died down, Ash and Co retire to their rented rooms for the night to rest up for a long day of... school tomorrow?

"I wonder what's going to be in that battling class," Ash wonders aloud, kicking his shoes off and flopping back onto the fluffy hotel bed with a relaxed sigh. Pikachu hops up to rest beside him with a content "Pika..." and a smile.

At the other bed, Brock lays out his sleeping clothes and carefully sorts through his bag. Lotad and Forretress' pokeballs sitting by his backpack. "Hard to say, Ash." The older teen mulls over his next words. "Different regions have different styles. Kanto experts have always been big on straightforward power, and Johto is much the same since they're neighbors. I have no idea how high-level Hoenn trainers like to battle."

Ash hums in thought and glances at the old CRT TV on the stand before the beds, a smile coming to him. "Hey, I bet we can find out a little of what we're in for," he says, reaching over Pikachu to the nightstand and grabbing the TV remote. A flick of the power button later, and the TV buzzes to life, opening on some cheesy soap opera.

There is a knock on the door as Ash cycles through the channels, and Brock pauses sorting his things to turn and open the door, revealing May, Torchic, and Max. The latter of the trio is closing their room door across the hallway.

"Hey guys, what are you up to?" May asks, stepping in with Torchic held in her arms. Max follows in shortly after.

"Trying to see if there is a League channel here," Ash answers, intently flipping through his hundredth channel. "Me and Brock were talking about that Trainer School and how different regions like to battle, and I figured what better way than to see what we're in for tomorrow than to watch a few Hoenn trainers duke it out."

Max hops up to sit next to Ash as the older boy groans when he passes the same grainy infomercial about evolution stone jewelry again. "Here, let me," Max says, taking the remote from Ash and looking it over, quickly finding a _'guide'_ button. A few presses later, and the TV is set to the local pokemon news channel, which is in the middle of an irritatingly upbeat advert about PokeChow. "Easy."

"Ah, oh. I knew that," Ash sheepishly rubs the back of his head and looks away.

"I've only watched dad battle a few times, but he liked to throw tricks into his battles to trip up challengers," May sits on Ash's other side. She strokes Torchic's head, electing a pleased coo from the chick that makes her smile. "I dunno if everyone battles like that, though."

The too-cheery commercial ends, and the screen cuts back to the news, drawing everyone's attention.

"Welcome back, I'm Katrina Ortega, and this is Rustboro Pokemon News, your source for local news and info," an attractive young anchorwoman behind a desk on the screen says with a wide smile. "Tonight, recent reports made by the Pokemon Rangers confirmed the felling of an ancient Evertree in the Petalburg woods, displacing a number of pokemon colonies, a Treecko colony included. Trainers in the area are advised to avoid any Treecko they encounter, as several have undergone stress evolution into Groviles and are acting in a hostile manner towards people and other pokemon." The young woman quickly flips to another page on her desk. "The Rangers are working to pacify the upset pokemon, and have had their eyes on this particular tree for some time, knowing it to be a falling risk. They ask for any information regarding the tree fall if there were anyone to witness it."

"That huge tree falling is what scattered the Treecko?" Ash asks no-one in particular, his shoulders slumping. "What rotten luck." Pikachu pats his trainer's arm with a tiny paw in consolidation.

"Now, onto our top story tonight," the anchorwoman shuffles the papers on her desk once more. "Gym Leader Roxanne says the new League year is off to a dynamic start, as many talented trainers have challenged her, including both of Professor Birch's new Lab Trainers. Professor Birch's own son, Brendan Birch, and the more mysterious Lee Henson, both battled Roxanne's true team and now have a Stone Badge to show for their incredible efforts."

Behind Katrina, a portrait of a grinning Brendan Birch is displayed, and beside that, a black portrait with a question mark is unhelpfully put up.

"Wow, I didn't think Brendan would come so far already," May comments with a blink. "He's way different from when we were kids."

Max snorts. "No comment on your boyfriend, Mr Lee? Owowowow!" The young boy quickly regrets the taunt when a fuming, red-faced May reaches out and yanks his ear.

"True team?" Ash questions aloud. Before anyone can answer, the anchorwoman continues.

"Mister Henson's battle was not televised, and the footage of the battle is the property of the Rustboro Trainer School, but Mister Birch's battle was, and what a spectacular battle it was. Here, we'll go over the battle one more time."

The newsroom fades out in favor of a video, showing the Gym, Brendan, and Roxanne from a number of angles. Ash, May, Brock, Max, Pikachu, and Torchic watch raptly.

* * *

_"Not so fast. Geodude, Magnitude!"_

_"Hang in there, bud! Just remember our practice!"_

_The crowd roars._

_"Geodude...Self-Destruct."_

_An explosion and screams._

_"Nosepass versus Mudkip, begin!"_

_A boulder is shattered by a headbutt, and everyone bellows in sync._

_"I'm sorry, Mister Birch, but I won't drag this out. Nosepass, Rock Tomb!"_

" _ **Mudkip!"**_

" _Mudkip just evolved!" A commentator gasps. "The tables have turned!"_

_The crowd erupts into chanting. "Marshtomp! Marshtomp! Marshtomp!"_

_"Hell yeah! Now thats what I'm talking about! Marshtomp! Rush him down!"_

_A thunderous explosion. A battered but unbowed Marshtomp stands and roars._

_"Nosepass is unable to battle! Marshtomp and Brendan Birch win! The challenger is the victor!"_

_Cheers drown out everything else._

* * *

The video fades and returns back to the anchorwoman, but no one in the hotel room bothers listening to her, all of them processing the battle they just witnessed.

' _What was that?'_ Ash wonders, blinking. An unpleasant feeling he has no name for stirs in his stomach. _'That was way more intense than any of my first Gym battles. That was like a late Gym or even a League match! And personal team? What does that mean?'_ He looks up at Brock for an answer, but the Rock specialist is lost in thought.

"Wow..." May murmurs after a long moment. "Is... Is that normal? How extreme that was?"

"That was like watching dad battle someone," Max says, looking dumbfounded. "But I thought Roxanne was the weakest leader..."

Brock shakes his head. "Gym Leaders, at least in Kanto and Johto, and apparently Hoenn, have two teams. One is their personal team, and if their personal pokemon are too powerful, the Pokemon League gives them a weaker team of rental pokemon so new trainers have a fair chance, but..."

The former Gym Leader looks back at his younger companions with an uncharacteristically severe face. "If a Gym Leader feels a challenger would be too strong for their League team, they can use their personal pokemon. The average Gym Leader's team is usually much more powerful, ranging from above average to Elite."

"Then... when we battled back in Pewter," Ash begins, looking to Brock with a troubled expression. "Were those _your_ pokemon?"

Brock hesitates. "Yes, they were my pokemon..."

"But..." Max leads from the sidelines.

"...But I was by far the weakest Gym Leader in Kanto, and thus was not issued a rental team," Brock reluctantly admits.

Ash's mouth opens as if to speak, but shuts with a click of his teeth. Beside him, Pikachu wears an expression of bold-faced surprise.

May takes in Ash's visage with concern. "Ash? What's the matter? Is that a good thing that it's easier?"

"After everything we've done, I was treated with _kid gloves_ this whole time?" The young Ketchum breathes in disbelief. He looks back to Brock, hoping for some kind of reassurance, but the tanned teen just seems confused.

"Ash...Did you not know?" Brock probes, taken aback. "I...I thought you knew? Oh shoot, Ash! I'm so sorry! I would have said something if I had known! Honest!" Brock holds his hands up in a preemptive gesture of surrender. "I thought you were okay with it!"

Ash reels back as if physically struck. "Wha...Why would I be okay with that?!" He barks back in a rare moment of anger. As quick as it came, the anger is gone, replaced with hurt. "I...I thought I was making progress, that _we_ were making progress..." He holds his head in his hands and shakes it. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"Ash," Brock starts gently. "You just started your third year as a trainer and already you ranked high in both Indigo and Silver. Higher than some people who have been trainers for a _decade_. That _is_ progress. No one becomes an expert trainer in such a short time." The instant the words left Brock's mouth, he regretted them.

The younger trainer looks up, brows furrowed. "Then how did Brendan and Lee force Roxanne to take them seriously? Both of them just became trainers a few months ago."

He gets no answer.

The boy abruptly stands, swaying a bit when the sudden action hits him with a wave of vertigo. "I need some time to think..."

No one stops him when he slowly makes his way to the door, but Pikachu does hop to his trainer's shoulder without anyone, Ash included, impeding him. He and Pikachu slip out of the room without any of Ash's usual exuberance.

Sans the low whirr of the air conditioner, the hotel room is silent.

"Do we know if that Lee guy really is a new trainer?"

Both May and Brock turn to Max, who has his wide eyes glued to his PokeNav screen.

"Why do you ask that?" May questions, but inwardly, wonders the same herself.

In her lap, Torchic looks up to his trainer with an inquisitive chirp.

"Oh! You probably only met him briefly, Torchic," May replies, looking down at the young Fire-type. "Remember the trainer with the burns and the Vulpix back in Professor Birch's lab?"

Torchic furrows his brow, then recalls the person and pokemon in question with an affirmative chirp.

"Well, do you think he's a new trainer? Or that Vulpix is new to battling?"

May gets a very swift shake of Torchic's head as an answer.

Max pauses whatever is playing on the PokeNav in his hands and turns to his sister and Brock. "The news said the footage of Lee and Roxanne fighting belonged to the Trainer School, so I went to their website and found it... If Brendan is learning from him, it explains why he got so strong so fast..."

Both Brock and May peer over his shoulder as he presses _'play'._

" _Corvisquire, charge up Steel Wing...and move in with Extremespeed."_

It's not long before May and Brock's eyes are as wide as Max's.

* * *

Just outside in the cool Hoenn night, Ash and Pikachu peer up at the starry sky, both quiet and deep in thought.

"Have we been doing something wrong this whole time, buddy?" Ash wonders aloud, not taking his eyes off the sky.

"Pi, Ka!" Pikachu vehemently disagrees with a shake of his head.

"But all those Gym Leaders not taking us seriously, and that Zinnia lady too! She didn't think we were worth her time!" Ash grits his teeth before taking a breath and calming down. "It's just frustrating, Pikachu. I know we've gotten so far, but it still feels like we're running in place. First Gary, and now Brendan...and Lee."

Pikachu lets out a quiet whine and nuzzles his cheek to Ash's, making the boy's cheek tickle from Pikachu's resting electric current.

Ash reaches up and places a hand on Pikachu's other cheek in a facsimile of a hug. He turns his gaze down at the ground, his hat casting shadows over his eyes. "We've done so much. Two leagues, the Orange Islands, the legendary trio, Lugia, Mewtwo, Entei, Alto Mare, and everything else, but we're still no closer to the top in the long run..."

Boy and pokemon remain so for several minutes as Ash's free hand clenches tighter and tighter. Finally, Ash looks up, eyes blazing with an intensity that would make a grown Dragon-type pause. "Fine then! Challenge accepted! We'll just have to train harder and give it our all! No more second fiddle for us! I'll become a Pokemon Master no matter what!" He yells, voice echoing in the empty street.

* * *

Lee looks up from the campfire in the middle of their clearing as something jolts him to the core, his eyes jumping to Vulpix's instantly. "Love? Did you just feel fate breathe down your neck? Because I did, and I don't fuckin' care for it."


	15. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> Jebus. Did I just get off my lazy ass and push out two updates in one month? Your favorite fuckboy back at it again. It's getting cold and perfect for being outside. Just in time to watch riots and society collapse in real-time from my forest safehouse. Stay safe out there.

"Again!"

All around a charred and torn-up stump of driftwood sticking out of partially glassed sand, fireballs the size of fists slowly bloom into existence one-by-one, forming a floating minefield of flames. Then as one, the fireballs converge onto the stump and explode. Most explode as one, but several are out of sync, detonating either early or late, but either way, it makes a bright flash in the early morning on the beach. When the smoke clears, even more of the stump is blown away.

With Treecko's guidance, Lee, Brendan, and Zinnia had cut the travel through the Petalburg Woods to a mere two days, and after rising before the sun on the third day, made it to the small port town along Route 104 that serves as the nearest ferry point to Dewford. With hours to spare before the ferry arrives, the group split up to do their own thing.

Naturally, Lee took the free time to train his pokemon on an abandoned part of the nearby beach.

"Nice work, love," Lee says, grinning down to Vulpix as he writes down a number of notes in his notebook.

_Custom Techniques - Vulpix_

_#1_

_N̶a̶m̶e̶:̶ H̶e̶l̶l̶z̶o̶n̶e̶ G̶r̶e̶n̶a̶d̶e̶_

_Name: Convergence_

_-Fire-type_

_Description: Fireballs spontaneously manifest around target and converge, exploding for Fire damage._

_+Leaves little room to dodge._

_+Strikes all points of foe, negating need to aim for weakpoints_

_-Slower than Protect. Current speed can be dodged by faster foes that aren't surprised._

_Notes:_

_Requires pyrokinesis. (See - Vulpix bio notes)_

_Power good. Need to work on explosion sync, projectile speed, and energy consumption._ _ Don't use in serious battles. _

The vixen simply nods in reply, too busy hiding her panting behind deep breaths.

"Already, Corvisquire." He calls up to the bird pokemon hovering above him. He quickly turns the page in his notebook to a dog-eared page marked _'Problem Child'_ "You're up! Same as last time!"

Corvisquire caws loudly and reels his glowing wings back, throwing them forward a second later and hurling a barrage of Swift rays forward.

The starry projectiles fly not at the charred driftwood, but to an X drawn in the sand about forty feet behind it. As they pass the driftwood, however, the stars suddenly try to turn back to the driftwood target. Many of them crash into each other and others can't turn in time, hitting the sand with loud pops or flying wide. When the fliers try to turn around a second time, many lose power and fade away. Only a small handful of the stars actually hit the rear of the target.

The crow pokemon screeches in frustration at yet another failure, making Lee wince. "Easy, Corvi. We've only been at this for a few days. You'll get the hang of it," he says, looking down at his notes.

_Testing: Problem Child_

_Swift, Scary Face, Taunt, and Extremespeed ripe for abuse._

_Other moves need more research_

He looks further down.

_Swift #1 (Course Alter?)_

_Much like Vulpix's pyrokinesis, Swift relies on user focus to designate target. Mechanism that enables course correction currently unknown but seems autonomous once target is set. More testing needed. Current goal: Enable course alter mid-flight._

_Test #A1_

_4 hours of practice. Corvisquire instructed to visualize Swift changing course mid-flight. Inconclusive._

_Test #A2_

_3 hours of practice. Corvisquire instructed to intently visualize Swift changing course mid-flight. Inconclusive._

_Test #A3_

_3 hours of practice. Corvisquire given instruction to fire at one spot but focus intently on another 1 second later. Inconclusive._

_Test #A4_

_4 hours of practice. Course deviation seen at hour 2 after Corvisquire given instruction to fire at one spot but focus intently on another 1 second later. Turning speed of Swift too slow to land at new target._

_Test #A5_

_3 hours of practice. See Test 4_

_Test #A5_

_2.5 hours of practice. See Test 4_

_Test #A6_

_3.5 hours of practice. Swift can now change targets after being fired. Note: Swift rapidly loses power and thus speed and homing after 7.4 secs flight time. Working to resolve this._ _ Not battle ready. _

_Test #B1_

_..._

Lee jots his findings down as Corvisquire lands before him in a huff.

_Test #B1_

_1.5 hours of practice. Attempts to make Swift turn 180 degrees achieve mixed results. Some lose power, others cannot turn fast enough, and others collide. Less drastic maneuvers can land with decreased power. Effective flight time: 7.7 secs. Max flight time: 9.8 secs._ _Not battle ready_

"Now-"

Lee doesn't even need to finish his sentence as a green blur rushes forward from his side, kicking up sand with each step. The blur slows down several feet away from the target just enough to make out Treecko's form with his tail glowing.

"Tree..."

He blurs again, this time in a whirl.

"Ko!"

The tree gecko's muscular tail lashes out, blowing through the driftwood stump in a burst of charred mulch and harsh crack of wood.

Lee's fingers find Treecko's section in the notebook with practiced ease. Looking down, he's greeted with two entire pages filled with notes and training logs, even with Treecko's currently limited moveset. The sight makes worry swirl in his stomach.

Treecko is still working himself towards a burnout. Just a week ago he was just getting the hang of Quick Attack, and now he can casually use Quick Attack as a movement option like Vulpix. He's even rapidly closing the speed gap between himself and the vixen, as the games of 'tag' Lee had them 'play' over the past week or so are getting more and more even.

"Excellent work, Treecko," Lee says, forcing a smile to his face as he writes _'Pound is more akin to Slam now'_. "That would knock around a pokemon twice your size easy, I would think."

Treecko crosses his arms and peers at the destroyed driftwood, then to Lee. Treecko's gleaming yellow eyes focus on his trainer's smile, and Treecko slowly frowns and chews on his twig in response.

Lee feels his smile falter and clears his throat before looking away. _'Of course he's perceptive enough to see that you're upset, dumbass. You can't lie to a creature with sharp instincts like that. What is this? Amateur hour?'_ He berates himself. "So I think thats good for some early morning practice. We've been out here for..." He glances over to the east at the sunrise, then to the town in the distance. "Probably an hour or two. Lets head back to town and see what the others are up to as a team, yeah?"

Corvisquire's sour look and up-turned beak already tell Lee what the crow's opinion is, so he is returned to his pokeball.

Treecko looks equally disgruntled, but steps forward and takes a spot next to his trainer.

The most surprising one is Vulpix, who looks up to Lee with a yip, and a silent request to be returned to her ball.

' _You sure, love? Are you feeling okay?'_ Lee sends back, trying not to let worry bleed through his words.

Vulpix is quiet for a moment. From the border between her mind and his, Lee can feel Vulpix's brain working overtime to try and formulate something in English rather than just a feeling.

' _I ** * *** t****. Yo* ****d *i** **** T*e****?'_

The end result is a heavily garbled mess more akin to radio static than any language. The brains of most pokemon just aren't suited to rigid human language, and it shows especially with Vulpix. Just receiving the message makes his head throb. The man quickly responds with a telepathic burst of understanding after he puzzles out the message with the urges and feelings she could not filter out, the message being she's tired and wants him to spend time with Treecko. The stain of human speech begins to give her a headache, so Lee quickly shuts down any further attempts.

' _We'll talk later, okay?'_ He sends to her, pulling her pokeball from his belt.

Idly, Lee feels his respect rise for other non-Psychic telepaths able to 'speak' in fluent English. If it's hard for a pokemon as intelligent as Vulpix, who has just recently started after months of constant conversation with him, then any pokemon with _any_ proficiency must be truly genius.

"You deserve the rest, Vulpix. Return." Lee replies aloud with a nervous smile, mostly for Treecko's benefit as he returns the vixen to her ball. The pokeball muffles the constant connection between the man and fox, sending an uneasy shiver up his spine.

He feels... _vulnerable._

Lee forces the feelings away and turns to Treecko. "Looks like it's you and me for now, bud. Take care of me, yeah?"

The gecko answers with a simple nod.

* * *

The tiny port town along Route 104 most definitely was just a single house that belonged to Mr. Briney in the games, and Lee struggles to recall if it was featured in the anime at all, but if it was, it had to have been small.

Sans the bustling port, the town (or more appropriately, village) could not have been home to more than three-hundred people, and it showed. A number of the buildings between the bright gift shops and restaurants meant to drain money from travelers and the boardwalk were built in an older, utilitarian style meant for lifespan rather than aesthetics. There isn't even a proper Pokemon Center, but rather a small clinic that proudly boasts the employment of a Nurse Joy on their dated website. If not for the beach backdrop, the town would have been rather ugly beyond the tourist area.

Lee and Treecko stroll into the town at a sedate pace, and Lee is silently relieved to see Treecko's fouled mood and narrow-eyed expression improve somewhat after the walk. He thinks back to Vulpix's words earlier.

' _I...don't think I've bonded with Treecko or Covisquire very much at all,'_ Lee frowns to himself. _'At least with Corvisquire I have the excuse of him being uncooperative, which I need to address sooner rather than later, but with Treecko...'_

Unbidden, all the moments and triumphs Treecko would have spent with Ash flash through his mind, and each one makes Lee's stomach tighten. The two would have become friends, and Treecko would go on to become a pokemon able to compete with legends, maybe even surpassing Ash's Charizard if not for the unfair type advantage.

He stole Treecko, plain and simple.

' _But after making that childish promise and that stupid speech, I can't just let him go.'_ And a smaller, greedier part of him doesn't _want_ to let the potential legend go. Lee glances down to the aloof little lizard. All the training in such a short time and the religious use of Quick Attack have refined Treecko's movements, even just walking, into a prowl rather than a simple gait. The only limiting factor holding his movements back from being seamless is his young body.

Already, he's standing out. A few of the smaller pokemon Lee and Treecko pass in the town eyeball Treecko with wariness.

' _He's not having a good time with us, with me. I know he feels like I'm stifling him, like I'm going back on my promise,'_ A bead of sweat rolls down Lee's forehead, stinging the eye it drips into until he wipes it away. _'But...'_ All the times Treecko has worked himself to exhaustion struggling against Vulpix, Corvisquire, Marshtomp, Shelgon, and even himself as he practiced Quick Attack until his legs refused to move come to Lee at once, driving a painful spike of self-loathing into his chest. _'And I keep letting him do it some days, then fight to deny him on others. Fuck, to him I can't even make up my mind. What do I do?'_ Again, he glances at his pokemon.

If Treecko notices his trainer's slow nervous breakdown, he keeps it to himself.

' _Maybe just be consistent and give him what he wants for once? Or are you afraid he'll see through your words and realize that you're an underhanded shit that just wants to use him? You weren't even fair in catching him.'_ A snide voice in the back of the zoologist's mind taunts. _**'You're holding him back.'**_

Lee grits his teeth and takes a deep breath.

"Treecko?"

The gecko pokemon lazily turns his eyes to look up at Lee as the pair stop in the street.

"How about we head deeper into town and see if anyone wants a battle or two? We've still got an hour before we need to meet with Brendan and Zinnia."

"Tree..?" Treecko initially perks up and gives Lee his full attention, but frowns afterward, suspicion bleeding onto his usually cool face as expected.

"Really, I mean it," Lee hastily defends the offer, trying hard to not be flustered. The lack of Vulpix there to help him straighten his thoughts makes it a chore. "Look, you've been working hard... Too hard I think."

Treecko's jaw tightens.

"But!" Lee jumps back in. "But, I, uh... haven't been the most supportive of your desire to become strong. I wasn't lying when I said I saw how much potential you have, and that we're alike, I just have some hang-ups that maybe I need to get over. I haven't been a good trainer to you, and I want to correct that."

The green lizard turns fully to Lee and regards him carefully. For a long minute, Lee has to force himself to meet his pokemon's piercing, judging gaze without faltering. If he so much as twitches, all his credibility goes out the window.

Finally, Treecko offers him a slow nod.

Relief washes away the tension coiled inside of the man, and he feels his face pull upward into a smile. "Thank you. Now, lets get going. The competition isn't going to thrash itself."

For the first time since the gecko pokemon came into his care, Treecko smiles.

The rest of the jaunt to the edge of the port town is done without the previous oppressive silence. "I really am proud of you, you know," Lee remarks as they approach the port and the beach. In the distance, he can spy a few battlegrounds in the sand, and he even sees Brendan and Marshtomp battling a girl with a Poliwhirl. "You've grown by leaps and bounds and I know you punch above your weight class. It won't be long before you're one-shotting opponents."

Treecko crosses his arms and silently takes in the praise, but the upturn of his lips tells Lee that he's pleased with what he hears. As they approach the beach battlefields, though, his eyes lock onto Marshtomp.

The Poliwhirl across the field from the mudfish pokemon is in rough shape, bruises littering his body and one arm limp from an injury. The tadpole pokemon takes great heaving breaths, trying desperately to catch his breath as his panicked trainer looks around at the watching people and bites her lip in indecision.

Sans some scuffs and a single bruise on his cheek, Marshtomp is unharmed and not even winded. Behind him, Brendan smirks.

"Marshtomp, Take Down!"

Marshtomp tenses his legs, then rockets forward with a nerve-shattering cry, the sand exploding under his feet.

The girl behind Poliwhirl can't get an order out fast enough before Marshtomp impacts her pokemon with bone-crushing force, throwing up a plume of sand.

Treecko averts his eyes as his smile falls into a scowl. Neither he nor Lee need to look to know the outcome of Poliwhirl and Marshtomp clashing again.

Lee grumbles and keeps walking. "Don't compare yourself to him, Treecko. I told you Marshtomp is a freak. Soon enough you'll be smacking him around."

The pair take up residence at the end of one of the empty fields, making the challenge open to everyone around. It only takes several minutes before a pretty young girl in a sundress approaches with a surly-looking Zangoose as her heels.

"Hiya!" She greets with a bright smile. "I'm Laura, and this is Goosey,"

The Zangoose visibly twitches at the nickname.

"Lee is the name, and this is Treecko as you could probably guess," Lee introduces himself as Treecko silently takes his side of the field. "One on one?"

"Sure thing! Goosy is my only pokemon anyway," The teen trainer replies.

One of the gathering spectators, a boy clad in swimming trunks, steps up to the referee position. "Treecko versus Zangoose, is everyone ready?"

"Yep!" Laura answers with a smile.

"Ready," Lee mutters, steeling his nerves as he watches Zangoose lower his stance and ready his wicked-looking claws. _'Be safe, Treecko.'_

"Begin!"

"Goosey, Crush Claw!" Laura cries.

"Move in and counter with Pound," Lee instructs a second later.

Zangoose rushes forward, one paw held high in a telegraphed slash as his claws glow.

Treecko walks forward almost leisurely, watching the approaching Crush Claw with dismissal. The instant Zangoose's paw begins to descend towards him, the wood gecko pokemon twists around the blow and leaps over a follow-up slash aimed at his legs. With a twist of his hips, Treecko turns mid-air, his tail glowing.

Laura's eyes widen. "Goosey, duck!"

The words are too late, as Treecko's tail slams into the side of Zangoose's head like a club of muscle and sinew, throwing the mongoose pokemon to the sand in a daze. Before the opposing pokemon or trainer can even think of recovering, Treecko opens his jaw and sucks in great globs of yellow life energy from Zangoose with Absorb, making Zangoose yowl and writhe in pain.

Zangoose rises to his hindlegs and jumps back out of Absorbs range, glaring at Treecko with one eye beginning to swell into a painful shiner from Pound. Without an order for his trainer, Zangoose lashes out with another Crush Claw, missing as Treecko weaves around the swipe with ease. Poor Zangoose is rewarded with a Pound to his stomach that makes him double over with a grunt after another missed attack.

Slowly, Lee feels his heart calming. Treecko is doing fine. Why was he worried before? One thing he knows for certain, is that Treecko needs this, the feeling of being a winner.

"Treecko, Quick Attack into Pound, send him flying!"

Treecko crouches, his form coated in an angry aura of white. Then he flickers forward like a spear of green.

It'll be the first win of many.

* * *

Treecko's fourth opponent, a persistent and now very bruised Numel, finally falls with a groan to the sand, unable to fight further.

On Lee's side of the field, Treecko pants harshly and stands from a crouch. His medley of scuffs, cuts, and burns are ignored and he doesn't bother listening to the cheers of the onlookers. This isn't for them, it's for _him_.

Behind him, Lee can't help but grin at how _fulfilled_ Treecko looks. Treecko holds his head high as the passed-out Numel before him is recalled by his dejected beach bro trainer. As Lee walks forward to meet the other trainer for a handshake, he stops for a second to give Treecko a congratulatory pat on the head.

Treecko still swipes at Lee's hand, but it lacks any venom.

"Geez, dude," the other trainer, a tall and tanned beach-goer begins as he and Lee break off their handshake. "I didn't think a Grass-type could beat a Fire-type like that..."

"Well, Numel has a Ground subtype, so Absorb let us stay in the game long enough for Treecko to land a few solid hits," Lee replies, unshouldering his bag and digging inside of it. "Your Numel is well trained and as far as I can tell, exceptionally healthy. My compliments to you," he says, fishing out a berry case. He takes an Oran berry from inside and tosses it to Treecko, who catches the little fruit and takes a bite. _'I should see if there is a berry vendor in town. I'm low on Oran.'_

The other trainer grins. "Thanks bro. I try." With a last farewell, he turns and leaves in the direction of town.

Lee pulls his phone from his pocket and flicks the power button, noting the time of 7:37AM. "Huh, time flies. The ferry should be here in a bit..." Glancing around, he notices that Brendan and Marshtomp are gone, likely to the pier to wait for the ferry. "Ready to go?" He turns to Treecko, whose injuries are now partially faded as he finishes his Oran.

Treecko answers with a simple nod and falls into step beside Lee.

As they walk, the scarred man looks down at Treecko, mentally conjuring the image of him just an hour ago as well. It's like night and day, silently amazing the man.

Where Treecko previously walked with a subtle tension to his shoulders and his gaze locked forward, he now walks with a much looser gait and allows his eyes to lazily wander as they cross the beach towards a set of stairs leading up to the raised pier, where a large boat begins pulling in.

' _I know it'll take more than just a few good battles for him and I to actually be on good terms,'_ the thought is sobering to Lee when it strikes him. _'But letting him work his frustrations out and feel the results of all his work has to be a good start..?'_

As they crest the stairs onto the wooden boardwalk that leads to the pier, both man and pokemon spot Brendan and Zinnia before one of the colorful shopping stands that line the boardwalk, one marked with a bold sign saying "Taste of Kanto." Zinnia turns, and when her eyes fall on them, she waves them over.

' _What is that I'm smelling?'_ Lee wonders and he and Treecko approach the stand. Something vaguely fishy and mouth-watering fills the air, and a half-forgotten taste ghosts along his tongue.

"About time you got here," Zinnia says through a mouthful of whatever she's eating. One hand rests on her hip, and the other holds a skewer of three fried balls. She thrusts the skewer his way. "Here, got you some breakfast."

"Erm, thanks," is his unsure reply as he takes the offered food. "What is this?"

"It's takoyaki, my good man! A treat beloved in beautiful Kanto!"

Lee turns to the voice, seeing an older, apron-clad man of vaguely asian descent behind the stand smiling at him. Seeing Lee's eyes on him, the man continues. "Succulent Dewford octopus and traditional Kanto fillings come together in a crispy batter shell for a treat sure to please! Give it a try!"

' _Octopus?'_ Lee blinks. Looking past the owner of the stand, he sees a Machamp in a too-small apron that he somehow missed. The Machamp in the rear of the stand expertly chops and dices a whole octopus with one set of arms while the other set mixes up a batter blend.

The sight of the octopus, the exact same as it would be back on Earth, is nothing short of jarring. There were several of the intelligent little critters back in the zoo's aquarium, all of them crowd-pleasers, and he remembers his mother freakout when a freshly dispatched octopus twitched in her meal at a japanese restaurant some years ago.

The warm memories of the zoo and his family vanish with a stabbing pain in his chest that robs him of his breath.

' _Remember them all you want, Lee. The zoo is nuclear ash now, and lie to yourself like you always do, lie to yourself about mom and dad escaping._ _ **They're all gone.**_ _'_

_**You can never go back.** _

"Sir? If you're a vegetarian, we do have meat-free takoyaki."

Lee blinks and realizes he's been staring at the octopus Machamp was working on. His heart races and his hands feel clammy. "Oh." He sucks in a breath and mentally reaches out to Vulpix, only to get a numb mental thread through her pokeball. He fights to stifle the ache in his chest and swallows the rising bile in his throat that his churning stomach forces up. "Uh, no no, thats fine," he offers the concerned stand owner an awkward smile and steadfastly ignores the raised eyebrows from his friends. "Just thinking, is all. I, uh didn't realize there was an octopus farm in Dewford?"

If the stand owner notices the deflection for what it is, he does not comment on it. Instead, he just smiles again. "Sure is! Dewford is a prime spot for seafood, second only to Slateport here in Hoenn. If you kids are headed to Dewford, then be sure to sample some!"

"We will!" Brendan polishes off the last octopus ball on the end of his skewer with gusto. "If anything they have is half as good as this, then it'll be a hundred precent worth it. Hey, Lee? What was that ju-Ow!" The boy is cut off by an unsubtle elbow and glare from Zinnia.

The man quickly takes the offered lull and laughs. "Thank you, my young friend! If you go to Dewford's Gilded Seaking restaurant, tell them Nagi and Machamp sent you!" The now named Nagi exclaims. He starts when Machamp turns and taps his shoulder. "Oh! And something for your vegetarian friend, too!" He takes an offered skewer with two takoyaki handed to him by his Machamp and leans over the stand, presenting it to Treecko. Treecko takes it with a silent nod of thanks before biting into the treat.

A loud boat whistle cuts off any further conversation, making everyone turn towards the now docked boat on the pier.

"We should probably get going," Zinnia says whats on everyone's mind. "C'mon!"

She races off, but not before catching Lee's eyes with a look he can't place. Brendan follows just behind her. Lee makes to follow but turns to Nagi and Machamp at the last second. "Thanks for the food, sir."

He laughs. "Thank your girlfriend, boyo. She paid for it after all."

"We're not-" The boat whistle drowns out Lee's denial, making him sigh. "Whatever, thanks anyway," he says, turning and speedwalking to the boat with Treecko easily keeping pace. He looks down at the Kanto treat in his hand, and his stomach protests at the thought of food. _'Damn.'_ He throws the skewer up in the air, and a Wingull is quick to dive from the sky and grab it before it can fall. Its almost like the trips to the Florida gulf he and his family would take way back when, when they'd feed the seagulls out on the beach. Then they'd-

_**You can never go back. They're all gone.** _

Lee falters, drawing Treecko's attention. "A-Ah... Sorry, Treecko," he murmurs, stopping beside an empty stand at out the view of others and bending over, placing his hands on his knees and taking great, heaving breaths. Twice he's almost sick again, and no matter how much oxygen he takes in, his chest is still painfully tight and his head is light. Black begins to bloom at the edges of his vision and his ears ring with the roar of a waterfall.

_**You can never go back. They're all gone.** _

Why did he agree to put Vulpix away? Why? He tries to grasp the thin psychic thread leading to her, but it fails again and again, slipping through his weak grasp like smoke would bare hands.

_Vulpix. Help me. Please. Make it stop._

"Treecko!"

The scarred man is shocked from his trance when a small paw slaps him across his face with enough force to knock him to the ground. He blinks and raises a hand to his unmarred cheek, rubbing the stinging spot. "What the fuck?"

Lee blinks the spots away from his vision and looks up to Treecko, feeling his heart sink.

The gecko pokemon stands with a shaking forearm still extended from where he struck his trainer. He chews on his twig, almost biting through it, but it's his eyes that give his feelings away the most.

Treecko's eyes are wide and with his pupils fully contracted, making them dark slits against a sea of yellow. The stares are Lee with an expression so out of place on him that it takes the man a moment to place it.

It's _fear_. The same fear tell that other reptiles use.

' _One step forward and one giant leap back. Nice one, Lee.'_

"Oh, oh shit Treecko I didn't mean to...freak out like that, I'm sorry." Lee gulps and looks away, unable to meet Treecko's gaze any longer.

At the words _I'm sorry_ , Treecko seems to come back to life, shaking his head and leveling his trainer with a much steadier look, one demanding an explanation.

' _Shit.'_

"I..." Lee trails off, rethinking his words. "It's..." Again, he stops.

' _This is too fast. I wanted to fix this over the course of weeks. Why is this happening?'_

"Treecko," he starts slowly and unsurely. "Remember the day we met those weeks ago? I told you then, and then again today, that you and I are a lot alike. We both know what it's like to lose our homes, our lives, and the difficulty of starting over from nothing."

Treecko's jaw sets and his brows furrow at the reminder.

"The thing is, Treecko," Lee sucks in a deep breath of air, the previous pain in his chest gone.

_Go on. Lie to him again. Do it._

Lee grits his teeth and banishes the thought, blurting what's on his mind before he can second guess himself. "I'm not as strong as you are when it comes to dealing with it. I'm a weak man propped up by expectations, childish dreams, and companions much more resilient than I, companions like you, because if I don't keep moving forward I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. You would have been better off in another trainer's hands, but my greedy ass saw how much potential you have and now I do an about-face and fucking stifle you because I'm afraid you'll hurt yourself and burn out! If I lose someone else, I am going need a long fucking stay in the nuthouse!" His voice rises to an open scream near the end, drawing the gaze of passing people, but he can't find the willpower to care. He slumps against the pier railing behind him and pants, utterly drained. "There you go, Treecko. Thats me, your coward trainer. Say the word and I'll break your pokeball. You'll be free again."

For a long moment, The gecko stares at Lee with a blank expression, which is somehow worse than any yelling or scorn. "Hah, what am I even saying?" Lee pulls Treecko's ball from his belt and opens the empty capsule, hands poised to break it at it's hinge. "I told you I'd get you to the top of the world, and god damn that was an empty promise. You'll get there much faster without me."

A green, scaly paw lands on his hand and stops him from twisting the ball in two. "Treecko?"

The same paw lashes out and catches him right on the unscarred side of his face again, knocking his head to the side. "Fucking..!"

Treecko grabs the front of Lee's jacket and easily pulls the man down to a forehead-to-forehead staring match.

To his shock, Treecko's blazing yellow eyes are filled with _unshed tears._ His mouth is locked in a grimace so intense that his teeth sheer through his twig, dropping the remains to the ground. The gecko pokemon takes the pokeball from Lee's limp fingers and closes it before shoving it back in his hands.

Lee blinks. "T-Treecko?"

Treecko turns his eyes back to Lee with a look the man has seen on Vulpix more than once. It's the same vaguely annoyed one she wears right before she washes away whatever he's feeling in favor of adoration and reassurance.

The pokemon then sighs, and in a movement almost too fast to see, rushes in, hugs Lee tightly around his middle, then retreats just as quickly. He picks up his now shortened twig and puts it back in his mouth, chewing on the end as he looks away with practiced indifference. "Ko."

The hollow in the man's chest slowly begins to fill with hope. "You want to stay with us? Even after all this two-faced drama?"

Treecko sniffs, then holds out a paw.

It takes Lee a moment to realize the significance of the act. When it finally hits him, he can practically see the Petalburg woods, the ruined Evertree, and a shadow of himself behind Treecko, who patiently waits with his paw extended.

With a small smile, Lee reaches out and takes the paw in his hand. "Top of the world, together. Don't let me bitch out, okay?" He says, letting go and standing.

Treecko openly smirks at him. Anything further is cut off as the boat whistles again.

"Shit, we need to go," Lee turns toward the boat further down the pier with a worried frown creasing his face. He jumps a little when Treecko hops to his shoulder, resting himself along the top of Lee's backpack rather than draping himself like a scarf as Vulpix would. With his pokemon in place and feeling lighter than he has in weeks, Lee runs to the boat.

' _Alrighty, no more drama. Nope. Think about something else... I really need to find one of those farms or animal reserves. They can't be perfect analongs of Earth animals, can they..? That octopus looked exactly as I remembered one through. No one seems interested in publishing anything about non-pokemon beyond the absolute basics. I have to know.'_ Lee thinks to himself. _'Dewford, don't disappoint.'_

It only takes a minute to reach the boat. It's a medium-sized cargo ship with faded paint and crewed by obvious career sailors, as one burly man by the lowered ramp checks the ticket of the boarding stragglers.

"They must stop here to offload some cargo and pick people up for a few extra bucks," Lee theorizes to Treecko. "They were certainly cheaper than all the other options."

As Lee and Treecko approach, the sailor holds out a hand to stop them. "Ticket?"

Lee withdraws his phone from his pocket and pulls up the ticket emailed to him, turning the phone around to show the sailor.

He inspects it for a second then waves them along, but not before taking a look at Treecko's roughed up form. "Only warning to ya. No battling on this ship."

"Gotcha."

With that, Lee and Treecko board.

* * *

The bunkroom provided to Lee, Treecko, Brendan, and Zinnia is exactly as Lee expected. Spartan, cramped, and musty. The single port hole window is open to try and alleviate the stale smell somewhat, but the success is limited. It has a small bathroom, one bed per corner, and an old TV on an equally old table. Considering the lack of power cord on the TV though, its just a decoration for the next eight hours of their ten-hour trip.

"Ugh, I'm going to be sick..."

Brendan groans and holds his stomach when the ship rocks again, rolling over in his bunk and trying desperately not to be sick.

"Yeah, I feel that," Lee murmurs in agreement, mentally kicking himself for not going to a drugstore for motion sickness medicine beforehand. While his stomach isn't revolting as much as Brendan's, seasickness still isn't pleasant.

"Jeez, and I thought I was the only one with a vagina here," Zinnia, now minus her cloak smirks. The tattered brown cape lays in her lap as she sews up a little hole in it.

Brendan, too sick to reply and facing the wall, just raises a hand and presents a certain finger.

Lee rolls his eyes. "You really had us fooled then, Zinnia." He ducks a thrown pillow as Brendan lets out a few chuckles punctuated with an ill groan.

"Sea sickness isn't real, it's all in your head," Zinnia insists. "Once you both try flying on a pokemon, you're going to wish it was this leisurely."

"I'll walk then, thanks," Brendan grumbles.

Lee stands with a stretch and takes a deep breath, feeling his stomach settle somewhat. "Well, I dunno about the rest of you, but I'm going on a walk. Some air sounds nice." He shoulders his bag and Treecko is quick to take up residence on his shoulder. "We'll be back in a bit."

Zinnia opens her mouth to say something, hand raised with an impending question, but she stops herself short. "Yeah, sure. Don't get lost."

With a blink, Lee turns to face her, but by then she's already returned her focus to sewing her cloak. "Right... Will do."

With that, Lee and Treecko exit the room.

The bunkroom leads out into a hallway with a few other doors, each one labeled with a letter and leading to another guest bunkroom. The other wall of the hallway is devoid of doors sans one in the middle labeled _'Deck'_ that Treecko and Lee walk through, finally taking them to the open starboard side of the deck.

For as far as the eye can see is open blue ocean. The crests of the waves sparkle in the morning light and Water pokemon can be seen near the top of the strikingly clear water. A school of Magikarp swim alongside the boat, their orange hides highlighting them in the water easily. They all scatter when a huge Sharpedo comes out of the gloom of the deeper ocean and makes an unsuccessful pass at them with jaws wide open.

"Hum, so he's back."

Lee and Treecko turn.

Approaching them is one of the cargo ship's sailors, a leaner man with a deep tan. He leans on the ship's railing and watches the Sharpedo lazily dive and vanish. "He's been hasslin' us, that Sharpedo. Those Magikarp keep followin' us to get our scraps, and that Sharpedo has been picking them off. Capt'n is worried one of them will panic and evolve. An angry Gyarados would send us to the bottom of the ocean."

A chill runs down Lee's spine. "What? You're awful nonchalant about this."

The sailor shrugs. "Ocean life is like that. I ain't too worried, though. First Mate Johnny's Vaporeon kicked that Sharpedo's rear just a few days ago. If he stirs the Magikarp up too much, she'll probably go down and fix it."

"Vamurrah?"

An odd, throaty mewl comes from just below Lee, making him jump and prompting both he and Treecko to look down.

Standing between his legs and intently watching the water from the side of the ship is a Vaporeon. The pokemon's slick skin and glossy black eyes shine in the sunlight. She blinks, scanning the open ocean by the ship.

"Speak of the devil and all that," the sailor chuckles. "What are you doing startling guests, you soggy biscuit?" He addresses the Vaporeon. "Johnny's not going to be happy."

Other than an ear twitch at her trainer's name, the pokemon ignores him. She flicks her tail then jumps off the ship in a perfect dive, cutting through the surface of the water with nary a splash and vanishing.

For a moment, the pair of men and Treecko watch the water. After a long minute, the Sharpedo appears, rushing away from a blurry blue figure chasing him. The Sharpedo and the blur dart around in the water in an elaborate pattern before Sharpedo breaks away and beelines away from the ship, leaving Vaporeon behind.

Vaporeon lingers in the water for a moment, then turns and leisurely paddles to the ship. Once close, she dives deep underwater, disappearing. Then she rockets straight up out of the water with enough force to land back on the deck.

Lee can't help but smile at the show and come down to a knee as the Vaporeon approaches him. He holds out a hand and lets the pokemon take a few cautious sniffs, then she smiles and presses her smooth head into his palm. "Vaaa!"

"Strong, stylish, and social. You've got it all, don't you, sis?" Lee asks, silently enjoying the cool, smooth skin of the Vaporeon on his palm.

Behind him, the sailor clicks his tongue. "Don't give that one too big a head now. Johnny can barely keep her under control as is."

Vaporeon sniffs at the sailor's tone before pulling away, walking towards... the wall? No, not the wall...

By the hallway leading back to the starboard bunkrooms, there is a drain grate, probably for flushing away water from high waves. Vaponreon steps on it, then melts into water, phasing through the grate like it's not even there. An instant later, she's gone.

Despite knowing the gamedex entries on a number of pokemon by heart, watching a Vaporeon _spontaneously change her full body-makeup from flesh and blood to just water_ blows out a little more of Lee's sanity right out of his head. From the corner of his vision, he sees Treecko's own eyes widen a fraction.

"Hey," he begins, turning to the sailor. "Did I just see that?"

The tanned man grunts. "Never seen a Vaporeon before? They all can do that."

The scarred trainer is silent for a moment, mind whirling the possibility of such a power. _'That's so fucked up. That's pyrokinesis levels of broken. I cannot believe I forgot about such a bullshit power until it was literally shoved in my face. I really need to sit down and make a list of what pokemon I want._ ' Outwardly, Lee clears his throat. "If your First Mate isn't busy, do you think I could talk to him? I think Vaporeon just went to the top of my next capture list."


	16. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.

"Thats about everything, lad. I hope the wisdom of old Johnny helps you out." The sea-weathered man sitting across from Lee says as he scratches his salt-n-pepper beard. In his lap, his Vaporeon dozes lightly and barely stirs when he leans back in his desk chair.

Across from the sailor and leaning against the wall of Johnny's quarters, Lee jots down one last line in his notebook, his face locked in a grin. It's less than he had hoped, considering the sailor is a career seaman rather than a full-time trainer, but any info on a rare pokemon like Vaporeon is worth its weight in gold. "Hoho. I knew Vaporeon is a heavyweight contender, but this just cements it. I don't suppose you'd know where I can..."

The old man barks out a harsh laugh. "Son, you can buy a brand new car, or you can buy an Eevee. Aha! Your pale face tells me exactly how you feel about that."

One interesting tidbit Lee learned early on in the world of pokemon, is that cars are _expensive._ No one needs passenger cars when paved roads are largely restricted to cities, and unpaved roads are much easier to traverse on foot, on a bike, or on a pokemon mount. Motorcycles and scooters exist for towns and cities, but most of the examples Lee could find were little electrically powered things. Lee had to ask if Birch was joking when the subject of his jeep, and subsequently the price, came up one day. He even looked up the model of Oldale's sole taxi and found the price of such a barebones vehicle staggering.

Long and short, if you have a car, you either have serious money or serious debt.

"Well... I'll just have to save up I guess," Lee mutters, mentally counting up his money and coming up laughably short. He steps off the wall, prompting Treecko to rise from his place by his trainer's feet. "Thank you for all the info, sir. It'll be a tremendous help. I hope I didn't take up too much of your time."

"Worry about it none, lad." The old sailor waves him off. "Now off with ye. I gotta get back to it before the Captain wonders where I slinked off to," he lifts his pokemon from his lap and tosses her to his bed, where she doesn't even bother to land on her feet, but rather just flop lazily.

A glance at the wall clock makes Lee's eyes widen. Has he really been here for over an hour? "Right, thanks again. C'mon, Treecko." He turns and starts for the door when he feels Treecko leap to his shoulder. The pair exit and find themselves on the port side of the ship. A stiff and unusually chilled wind washes over the man and pokemon, throwing seawater droplets against them.

Treecko looks up, his eyes widening just the slightest amount. He taps Lee's shoulder and points to the sky in the west, the direction the ship is going. Lee follows Treecko's finger and grimaces.

Rapidly approaching from the horizon is a black, rolling storm. Lightning flashes in the clouds like a demented strobe light in a smokescreen and the faint sound of rolling thunder begins to reach his ears. Over the side of the ship, most of the Water pokemon loitering near the top of the choppy water dive deeper out of sight or turn and begin to swim away from the coming storm.

A door opens then closes behind them, and First Mate Johnny stops by the railing with Lee and Treecko, Vaporeon at his heels. He looks in the direction of the storm with a contemplative expression. "Hmm. Looks like a bad one. Back to your room with ye. Don't need you or green bean there getting swept off the ship and eaten by a Sharpedo. Bad for business and althat."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Lee murmurs. "Back to the hold we go, Treecko."

Treecko just rolls his eyes in reply.

The pair walk back to the guest side of the ship, passing a few other people yet to be corralled by the sailors watching the encroaching storm. "Tch, if worst comes to worst, I'll jump ship and make it there on my Lapras!" One young hotshot tells a pair of crewmembers as Lee and Treecko pass by. "She's won me countless contests, y'know?" He beams.

One of the sailors shakes his head. "A Lapras, eh? Might be the best pokemon for calm waters, but in a storm? Son, the rain is going to make her shell slick, then it takes one good wave to throw you off. After that, you're in the water or on a painful collision course with said shell when you come back down. Do yourself a favor and stay on the boat."

The young trainer gulps and doesn't reply.

When Lee and Treecko return to their cabin, they find Brendan has finally fallen into a nap free of any sea-sickened fits and Zinnia sits upon her bed with her pokemon out. Swablu dozes upon a pillow while Goomy has taken residence on Zinnia's folded cloak at the foot of her bed. Zinnia herself sits behind Shelgon as she polishes his metallic shell with a rag, and judging from the smell, a touch of chemical polishing compound. Shelgon himself rests with his legs folded under his bulk, eyes closed in contentment.

The dragon tamer looks up when Lee closes the door behind him gently. "You took your sweet time," she says quietly. "Get lost?"

"No," Lee answers back in an equally low voice. "Found out that the first mate on this ship has a Vaporeon, so I had to seek him out and ask about her. What a fascinating pokemon, Vaporeon. Unique with powers ripe to be abused in battle. I have to have one."

Zinnia smirks. "Well, better start finding tournaments and competitions to enter. Even an Eevee runt is going to cost you an arm and a leg. The Water stone is an extra kick while you're down, too."

"Don't remind me," Lee grunts.

"So, what are you planning on doing with this hypothetical Vaporeon?" Zinnia asks, going back to polishing Shelgon when the pokemon grumbles his displeasure at her stopping. "Something special?"

"I watched that Vaporeon turn her whole body into water and slip into a drain pipe. That alone makes it worth it to me," Lee begins, resisting the urge to draw his notebook from its place stuffed in his back pocket. "If a Vaporeon can do that, what's stopping them from morphing to water mid-fight to negate incoming blows? Maybe shapeshift mid-battle? Can they control other aspects too, like temperature or matter state? Could a Vaporeon _literally_ turn into vapor and become untouchable? If they can do all this, what is stopping other pokemon from mimicking such a stunt? Could Vulpix turn into a literal ball of flame to dance around attacks? Treecko into a storm of leaves? I have to know it works!"

Lee covers his mouth when he accidentally raises his voice, but Brendan barely even stirs. When he looks back to Zinnia, she stares at him with her jaw dropped just the slightest amount. "What?"

Zinnia shakes her head and closes her mouth. "Heh. Nothing. I guess I should have expected that from you," she says, her smirk back in place. "Some of that seems a little, ah, fanciful though?"

"I'm sure the prospect of keeping large pokemon was fanciful until someone invented the pokeball, too," Lee shoots back, seating himself on his bed and letting Treecko dismount from his shoulder. "Speaking of pokeballs..."

Lee takes Vulpix and Corvisquire's pokeballs from his belt and pops them open, depositing both pokemon on the floor in flashes of light. Near instantly, his connection to Vulpix is restored and it almost knocks the breath from his lungs. Idly, he's glad he sat down before releasing Vulpix, lest his legs wobble from the sudden drain of tension in his body. It only takes a tiny prod from her mind for his to show the memories of what she's missed.

He feels her rapidly shuffle through the memories like one might do a stack of photographs, taking in each one quickly but thoroughly. Vulpix stops on his heart-to-heart with Treecko with a measure of surprise, physically looking up at him. Then, a gentle, vulpine smile blossoms on her muzzle and her proud approval flows into his psyche, making Lee's insides grow warm as he grins in reply.

Corvisquire glances between Vulpix and his trainer before looking around, his beak pulling down into a dour frown that quickly transforms into a scowl.

"You don't need to look so down. Corvisquire," Lee says glibly, his grin still in place as he hugs Vulpix to his side. The vixen's fan of tails slowly wag. "Would a hug make you feel better? I've got a free arm over here."

The snap of the crow pokemon's beak makes it obvious what he thinks about the offer and what he would do to said arm.

Before anything else can be said, a crack of thunder makes everyone jump and jolts Brendan awake with a yelp. The whole ship seems to shake from the noise. All eyes turn to the porthole window, where the tropical sun is rapidly being overtaken by black clouds. White-capped waves slowly make the sway of the ship worse.

Overhead, the old PA system crackles to life. "Attention, please," The grainy, gravelly voice of a man echoes all around the ship. "This is your Captain speaking. We're headed through a storm to Dewford that is expected to last several hours. All passengers, please return to your quarters and stay put. All hands, secure cargo and stand by. Thank you." With that, the line dies, leaving the now howling wind as the only sound in the cabin.

Lee releases Vulpix and stands, quickly walking to the window and shutting it, though not fast enough as a raindrop nails him in the eye with unerring accuracy. "Ow! Fucking-!" He rubs his eye and sits back down, almost tripping and landing on Treecko when the ship rocks under him.

With a grumble, Brendan abandons trying to sleep again when the staccato of thunder and rain pelting the ship like bullets makes far too much noise. "Man, I was having a great dream too," he complains, standing and stretching. "What's up with this storm? It was perfectly clear when we left."

"We've been on the water for a couple of hours, shrimpy. Weather out here can turn deadly at the drop of a hat." Zinnia comments blithely. "Gee, I sure hope nothing bad happens to us~!"

"Don't bring that evil in here, woman. I'll toss your ass overboard myself if I don't get at least a week without some dumb adventure," Lee warns with narrowed eyes. "Everyone just hunker down and try to get comfortable. It's going to be a long day."

"Urg, easier said than done," Brendan moans, looking decidedly green when the ship lurches under them. He draws his pokeballs and releases Marshtomp and Shroomish in flashes of light before laying back on his bed. "Lee? Can you feed my pokemon, please? I don't think I can look at any food, even pokechow, without feeling like hurling..."

"That's fine, just relax and rush to the bathroom if you're actually going to puke," Lee stands and grabs Brendan's backpack, unzipping it and reaching inside for Marshtomp and Shroomish's food.

Marshtomp looks at his ill trainer with his brow creased in concern. The mudfish pokemon then turns to Lee with a low, inquiring croon. "Maaash?"

"Caw, ha." Corvisquire answers before Lee can. "Craw!" He finishes with a dry, cackling laugh that plants a frown firmly on Marshtomp's face.

"Ko, Treecko," Treecko speaks up, from his spot lounging on a pillow with his forearms behind his head. His answer is apparently much less inflammatory than Corvisquire's as Marshtomp smiles at him.

Lee turns to his sole flyer with a flat expression. "Can you not pick a fight with everyone?"

Corvisquire has the gall to smirk.

Lunch is a quick affair. Lee feeds both Brendan's pokemon as well as his own, with Zinnia following suit shortly after. Brendan, as expected, eats nothing and just lays on his bed staring at the wall. Zinnia scarfs a wrapped-up sandwich from her bag while Lee forces down a simple granola bar before the rolling of the ship begins to upset his stomach like Brendan's. With food out of the way, all the pokemon huddle on their respective trainer's bed for the rest of the ride.

Lee sits with his back against the wall on his bed, pokedex and notebook in his lap. One earbud hangs from his ear as he busies himself transcribing his verbal pokedex logs into his notebook. He has to rewind the recording several times as he gets lost watching his pokemon from the corner of his eye during this rare idle moment.

Vulpix and Treecko lay by one another, both talking between themselves in various purrs, hisses, and yips broken up by short verses of their species names. Of what they talk about, he has no idea since Vulpix doesn't seem to deem it important enough to give him a telepathic translation. Both pokemon are obviously at ease with each other, but the cool demeanor of both makes it difficult to tell if they're true friends or merely being professional.

Further behind them perched on the edge of the bed, Corvisquire does not deign to give any of them his attention, instead watching the rain pound on the window with as placid an expression as he can manage... Which is to say a resting scowl. In a dull part of Lee's mind, he's faintly amused by watching Corvisquire's head, which like many avians, remains gyroscopically stable while his body rolls with the rest of the ship under it. The crow suddenly seems to realize he's being watched and turns his head, looking at Lee with a narrowed red eye.

"I'm just admiring you, is all. No need to give me the stinkeye," Lee says, raising his hands. "You've got some good sealegs despite being built to fly."

Corvisquire visibly mulls over the words before turning back to the window without a reply.

' _At least he didn't get huffy over it. I swear that bird is such a drama queen.'_

Vulpix _'overhears'_ Lee and lets out a short, vulpine snuffle of amusement, drawing a confused look from Treecko when she stops in the middle of their conversation to do so. "Ko?"

It was then that Lee realizes that he and Vulpix have kept her telepathy under wraps since the beginning of their journey, with the only ones who know being Roxanne, Steven Stone, and Birch. "Ah, well, we've been together long enough that I should probably spill this to you and Corvi," Lee begins, drawing both Treecko and Corvisquire's eyes to him. Lee beckons his pokemon closer, forming a little circle before him. "Vulpix has telepathy and she and I use it often. If it seems like we're silently communicating somehow, then we actually are. Keep that to yourselves, yeah?" He asks, looking to Brendan and Zinnia's little camps, who don't seem to notice over the sound of the storm. "I'll tell them when a good opportunity arises."

Treecko nods easily enough and Corvisquire just rolls his eyes. The crow caws out a short, mocking note.

For a second, Lee debates asking Vulpix for clarification, but decides to go out on a limb and ask; "You already knew, didn't you, Corvi?"

The bird answers with another eyeroll.

"I should have guessed. The PokeDex said your kind are plenty intelligent, and you're already a cut above the rest so you probably figured it out quick."

The flattery has the desired effect of making Corvisquire dial back his hostility from _badly hidden_ to merely _sour._ His resting scowl eases just the slightest amount.

"I don't suppose you'd be open to finally getting a physical?" Lee probes, silently crossing his fingers.

WIth that one sentence, any sort of goodwill he fostered in Corvisquire dies a brutal death as the bird pokemon hops backward and levels Lee with a glare just short of a full-on Scary Face.

' _I guess that's a no...'_

Both Vulpix and Treecko tense, subtly scooting between Lee and Corvisquire with their eyes locked on the latter. Corvisquire hisses, his feathers ruffling up and talons tearing through the bed comforter like razors through paper. For a single terrible moment, it looks like the three pokemon are about to tear into each other. Then Vulpix and Treecko both jump a little when Lee's hands gently plant themselves on each of their heads.

"Thats fine, Corvi. You don't have to until you're ready," Lee quietly says. He meets the crow's hate-filled red eyes with his own steady gaze. "None of us will force you, and I only want to do so to get a baseline for you, so I can help you grow. We'll do it when you're ready and only when you're ready," He rubs the cool scales of Treecko's head with one hand while the fingers of the other trace the little heart-mark on Vulpix's ear. "Right?"

Vulpix responds with an immediate nod, her hackles falling as she melts into his touch.

Treecko rolls his twig around in his mouth, silently mulling over Lee's words. Then to his trainer's relief, the gecko pokemon backs down as well, looking away from Corvisquire with a dismissive huff.

Slowly, Corvisquire's feathers lower back into place, but he still keeps his piercing eyes cycling between all of them for a minute with his wings tensed to flap.

"Tell you what," Lee breaks the silence again, looking between his pokemon. "Vulpix is due for a check-up. Once we're back on solid land, you can watch and see what the actual procedure is, Corvi. It's nothing invasive or painful, then you can decide. We'll not talk about it anymore until then, okay?"

Corvisquire finally folds his wings back up with an imperious sniff, then turns back to watching the rain.

* * *

The rest of the trip through the storm was turbulent, tense, and generally miserable. The bad weather easily added over two hours to the voyage, changing their arrival from just before 8pm to well after 10pm.

Weary, hungry, and ill-rested, Lee, a shoulder-riding Vulpix, Brendan, and Zinnia trudge off the ship into Dewford's port at the end of the group of passengers. In the distance, Dewford proper illuminates the skyline with city lights.

"Urh, sweet land, I'll never take you for granted again," Brendan moans, falling to his knees on the concrete dock, then down spread-eagle on his belly. "Land, marry me."

"Pretty sure most depictions of Groudon are male, Brendan," Lee says, rolling his shoulders as best he can without jostling Vulpix. One makes a satisfying pop and fills him with a second-long burst of vigor. "I'm sure he'd be flattered, though."

"...Gro-who?" Brendan asks, slowly lifting himself off the ground.

At Zinnia's now intense stare, Lee feels as if he misspoke. "Ah, Groudon. A legendary pokemon said to have created the land and continents. Take that as you will," he says, pointedly ignoring the stares from his friends. He makes a dismissive wave with his hand and quickly continues. "Now, let's get to town and find a hotel, and maybe a place that does late-night take-out. I'm done with today."

He starts walking. After a moment, Brendan and Zinnia's footsteps come from behind as the two fall into step on either side of him. For several minutes their little party walks in silence, and relief muted by exhaustion begins to fill Lee as no more questions come from Brendan or Zinnia.

"So, not many people know about Groudon, let alone so much about it. You're still a pretty fresh trainer, so how did you hear about it?" Zinnia asks, posture innocent but eyes probing.

...Nevermind. He still has enough energy to be nervous.

"Just..." Lee's mouth freezes when Vulpix interrupts his thought by _grabbing_ the words in his mind before they can make it to his mouth. _'Just because I'm a new trainer does not mean I didn't know about pokemon'_ would have outed him to Brendan, who was there when Oak recited the isolated region story. Before Lee can question just how Vulpix did what she did, he feels her hot breath on his neck as she feeds him a new answer. "Just... some research is all. I did work with Professor Birch for a month before setting out, and he's got a lot of reading material."

If Zinnia is disappointed with the answer, it does not show. Instead, she hums under her breath. "Like that book about my tribe?"

' _Fuck off, Zinnia. Why are you doing this when I'm tired?'_ Lee frowns. "Not exactly. That one..." He stops as Vulpix double checks his answer, then silently approves when it leaves no open ends. "...I found it on a sketchy e-book site. It ended up giving my old phone a virus that a factory reset couldn't fix, so while it was a neat read, I had to trash my phone afterward. Bad trade, all things considered."

 _That_ makes Zinnia frown just the slightest amount. "What site?"

"Couldn't tell you. I found it one sleepless night and don't remember."

The draconid woman finally stops asking questions and turns to face forward. A quick glance to Brendan shows the boy isn't listening at all, instead focusing on keeping his dead-tired self moving.

' _Lies upon lies upon lies. One day we'll be caught and have to come clean.'_ Lee tries his hardest to care, but his growling stomach and leaden limbs make even being anxious a hard task. _'It's a problem for another time.'_

The three trainers and single pokemon wander from the docks into Dewford, finding it to be larger than Oldale, but definitely smaller than Rustboro. Upscale houses line much of the beach space and one complex near the end by the cliffs must be a resort of some kind. The vibrant nightlife filled with people and bright signs as marks much of the town as a tourist attraction, and it's made even more apparent when Lee, Brendan, and Zinnia step out of a side-street into a main-street lined with bars, restaurants, and shops filled with different curios and all manner of indulgent pleasures. People and pokemon pack the street, their voices mixing with the music all the different locations play and the cheering of a small crowd around a Drowzee street performer, who levitates great balls of water and morphs them into fantastical shapes.

As they walk, Brendan's energy seems to come back with all the excitement around him. His head turns every which way with a smile firmly planted on his face. "Look at all of this! We can't go until we've checked _everything_ out!" A bright candy shop with a Lickitounge painted on the window and a shop offering custom pokeball engravings draw his eyes the most.

Lee pulls his attention away from a rich-smelling tobacco shop when Vulpix nips his ear. ' _Yeah yeah, two months cold turkey and all. No need to get bitey. I still want a fancy Cuban, though... Or a cigar from wherever this planet's Cuba is.'_ He turns to Brendan. "You have fun, hotrod. I'm sticking to my plan of eating and going to bed. I'll text you the hotel and room number. Call if shit gets crazy."

The boy doesn't need any more permission than that and bolts headfirst into the engraving shop, but not before calling back; "You're such an old man! Live a little!"

Lee shakes his head and turns to Zinnia. "You bolting too?"

She opens her mouth to answer, but the ravenous growl of her stomach answers better than any words can. The tanned woman blushes and clears her throat. "A meal sounds good. Lead away."

The pair weave through the crowd further down the road, where the throngs of people thin out somewhat, before slipping into a rustic, open-air bar they don't even bother checking the name of. They find an open table near the back, and after Zinnia throws her cloak over the back of her chair and Vulpix hops off Lee's shoulder, the trainers sit.

"Fucking hell, we're getting a faster boat for the return trip," Lee complains as he feels Vulpix lay across his boots and curl up for a nap. "Twelve hours? Miss me with that."

Zinnia snorts. "Easy for you to say, mister moneybags. I'm not a government goon, so I don't get paid to go out and have fun. I have to source all of my money myself, and I'm not going to blow it on a boat ride of all things when hitching a ride with a cargo ship is way cheaper," she says, propping an below on the table.

Before Lee can reply, a young waitress happens by with a pair of menus. "Hello! Drinks to start?"

"Rum and cola, thanks. Don't be afraid of being heavy-handed with the rum," Lee says, popping open his menu to find some standard sports bar fare inside.

"Hrmmm..." Zinnia glances at the back of the menu where all the drinks are listed. "Tequila Sunrise, please."

The waitress nods and jots everything down on a little notepad. "Could I see your ID, ma'am?"

Zinnia's face sours, much to Lee's silent amusement, before she fishes her wallet out and shows the ID to the waitress, who looks at it closely and smiles. "Thank you!"

With that, she hurries off to another table.

"Why the look? Isn't it a compliment to you that you got ID'd?" Lee asks with a smirk still lingering in his face. _'What's the drinking age in Hoenn? Zinnia is only nineteen-ish if I recall.'_ He looks past her to the bar and spies a Chatot preening it's wings. It stands upon a sign saying We ID. No under 18. _'Ah.'_

"How come you didn't get carded?" Zinnia whines rather than answers. "That's a load of shit."

Lee pats the left side of his face where his scars lay. "These, probably. Adds an instant ten years. Glad they're finally good for something."

Zinnia stares at the burns for a moment. "I never asked. Where did you get those? They almost look like..."

"Burns?" Lee finishes, feeling a sardonic smile pulling uncomfortably at said burns. "They are. Before you ask, let's just say the only thing worse than playing with fire and getting burned, is _someone else_ playing with fire and burning you. An accident, and we'll leave it at that." Under the table, he can feel Vulpix listening closely.

Zinnia frowns at the non-answer.

"Now let me ask you some uncomfortable personal things," Lee leans back in his chair. "What's this mission the draconid tribe put you up to? That e-book had bits of lore and whatnot, but nothing concrete."

The waitress chooses that time to drop their drinks off. A rather plain glass of brown liquor is placed on Lee's side of the table while Zinnia gets a much more flamboyant red and yellow drink in a tall glass. "Anyone ready to order their meals?"

"Sampler for two, please," Lee says, surprising Zinnia as he hands his menu over. He shoots her a look and she too hands in her menu. "All of this on one check, too."

Again, the waitress jots down the order and hurries off. "Back soon!"

"Not that I'm not grateful, but why?" Zinnia blinks.

The scarred man takes a chaste sip of his drink first, smiling when it goes down smooth. "You were just bitching about being broke, and you did get me breakfast so I'm just returning the favor."

"Yeah, but I don't think a three credit snack and a full dinner and drinks really compare," the dragon tamer points out, lifting her own drink for a sip. She smirks. "Mister Henson, are you trying the old wine-n-dine on me? The fastest way to a draconid's heart is her stomach, after all."

"That fruity drink of yours is thirteen credits," Lee deadpans, making Zinnia choke as her eyes bug out. He smiles at the reaction and rests his head in a propped up hand. "Again, you were just bitching about not having money, and I'm a cool guy like that. Besides, I'm married to my job now and I'm certain Vulpix wouldn't be amused if I made googly eyes at another female. Right, love?"

Under the table, Vulpix chuffs.

"See?"

Zinnia grumbles into another sip of her drink. "Funny how you mentioned draconid lore, earlier. I'm actually the Lorekeeper of the Draconid Tribe."

"And what does a lorekeeper do?" Lee asked, an eyebrow raised. "Obviously not anything scholarly like it might suggest since you're out here with us."

When Zinnia doesn't answer, instead looking down at the table with a conflicted expression, Lee relents. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

The tanned woman is silent for another few seconds before answering. "The Lorekeeper... is supposed to be the strongest of the tribe. There aren't a lot of us, so it falls to the Lorekeeper to be strong enough to survive if the rest of the tribe does not, or to undertake special missions for the good of the tribe. That's what I'm doing, currently. The Lorekeeper before me, shes... Not around anymore, and she chose me as the next Lorekeeper before she passed. I and my pokemon have to become strong to fill the shoes she left behind, so the draconids can live through me were something unthinkable to happen."

Suddenly, much of Zinnia's ruthlessness and manic eagerness to battle makes sense. _"Swablu would have gained nothing from that battle, so why bother?"_ Her words from her battle with Ash echo inside Lee's head.

Dying wishes make the most dogmatic people.

Lee nods, swirling his rum in its glass before taking a long pull from it. The liquor is starting to get unpleasantly warm. He sets the glass back down. "She was special to you, the last Lorekeeper?"

Zinnia nods silently, not looking at him.

"What was her name?"

The woman across from him stops halfway through a pull of her Sunrise, the bright colors of it out of place in the somber atmosphere. "Aster," she says after a long moment, her face morphing into a blank mask.

' _I thought her Whismer was named Aster? Come to think of it...'_ Lee thinks back, never recalling such a pokemon in Zinnia's ownership in the weeks he's known her. _'Another timeline thing I fucked up?'_

"Aster, huh?" Lee drains the last of his glass. "You're a good trainer, Zinnia. She'd be proud, I think."

Her breath hitches and the stoic mask upon her face cracks, showing something underneath too briefly for Lee to identify. Then without any preamble, she throws her head back and laughs. "Ha! Arceus above, a few sips of tequila and I get all sappy. I was hoping to loosen your lips, not the other way around. How about this, since I didn't get what I want outta you, you've got to help me with something tomorrow."

"A free dinner wasn't enough for you?" Lee asks, shaking his head and holding his hands out in the universally recognized _'really?'_ pose.

Zinnia easily ignores him and reaches into her back pocket to pull out a crumpled flier. She smooths it out as best she can and hands it to Lee, who takes it and looks it over.

_**BRAWL ON THE BEACH!** _

_Double Pokemon Battle Tournament!_

_Bring the whole family! Shops, foodstands, games, music, battles, and more!_

_Celebrate the new league year with a thrilling tournament on Dewford Island's own white sands! Contestants will battle two-on-two until only one team is left standing! The winner's will receive a shared prize of $10,000 and the bragging rights of being Dewford's best Brawl On The Beach Duo!_

The rest of the flier details the rest, like the bands showing up, the restaurants setting up stands, and a little section at the bottom with the usual legal disclaimer.

"Nothing against shrimpy, but I feel like the chances of a win are better if it's you and me," Zinnia says as Lee sets the flier down. "Plus you have to have three pokemon anyway, so unless he has a new one by tomorrow morning, he's out."

"I dunno..." Even with the warming booze in his stomach, Lee still bites his lip as a little flare of anxiety flickers inside him.

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" Zinnia argues. "I'll even split the prize with you~!"

The scarred man snorts. "You're so generous..."

"But really, I _am_ kinda broke and it's money to put towards that Eevee you want," she presses. "Unless you want to do bitch work for that school, this is the fastest way to get one."

 _That_ makes Lee's resistance crumble. With a sigh, he agrees. "Alright, I'm in. I need to register for a gym match and give Vulpix and possibly Corvisquire a check-up first thing tomorrow though."

Zinnia grins. "Fine with me. We need to get proper attire, too, so factor that in."

"...Attire?"

"Duh, look at yourself!"

Lee slowly looks down at his clothes. They're the same camo green jacket, black shirt, jeans, boots, and gloves he normally wears. "Whats wrong with my clothes?"

Zinnia groans and drains the rest of her Sunrise in one unlady-like gulp. "You drive me to drink, you know that? You can't go to a beach like that! You need speedo and maybe some crocs if you insist on being a nerd."

He glares back at her. "I'll do a lot of things, but wearing crocs and a speedo at once is not one of them."

"Here you are! Sorry for your wait!"

The waitress walks back with a huge tray of assorted bar food and sets it down on their table, making Zinnia's eyes light up.

Lee quickly makes a plate for himself before Zinnia's grabby hands can take everything. "Jeez, woman. Where do you put it all?"

His table partner laughs past a bite of an onion ring. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

The rest of the evening is naught but small talk as two traveling companions slowly turn into actual friends.


	17. Logs 2

" _Log seven, day thirty-eight. Vulpix and I... suffered our first real defeat today. She was hurt badly, and I..."_

There is a long pause in the recording before it cuts off altogether.

" _Long seven, day thirty-eight, part two. Sorry about that, professor. Anyway, our winning streak was finally broken. Vulpix suffered from a cracked ulna, several cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, contusions to the head and back, various lacerations, and a concussion. I won't lie, professor, this scared me. The loss stung, but Vulpix's injuries... She'll be back at one-hundred percent in just a few days, which both relieves and awes me. That many injuries on a common animal? One as small as Vulpix? They would be on a long and hard road to recovery if they recovered at all. The whole thing dislodged some... unpleasant memories of home. I had a_ lioness..."

Again, there is an uncomfortable silence in the recording.

" _Animals don't have the same higher brain functions we humans do. Much of it matches up to us, but others are nonsensical, even unthinkable to us. This is going to be greatly simplified or we'll be here all day, so bear with me. In large predators, they often have what's called K-selection reproduction, that's with a capital K, where they produce a small number of very valuable and resource-intensive offspring in response to a stable environment. The opposite, r-selection, is seen often in invertebrates and prey species, who have many 'cheap' offspring, so they can afford to lose several in their usually hostile environment and still continue the species."_

" _Does that sound callous? Sit down for this next one."_

" _Lions, one of the big cats I worked with, evolved to thrive in the harsh, arid land of Africa. They've taken an inhospitable environment and mastered it, but such a thing requires some extreme measures... Selective infanticide is one of them."_

Birch clicks 'pause' on the recording and wheels his office chair back away from his computer, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling as he pretends Lee's words didn't rattle him. After several long minutes, he sits back up and hits 'play' again.

" _To a lion, it makes no sense to keep and invest time into offspring that are unlikely to survive. Some abandon unwanted cubs, others... take a more violent approach. We had an incident back home some months back, after one of my lioness' gave birth to three cubs. Something we could not identify triggered her, and she... One didn't make it."_

" _It was all too easy to imagine Vulpix... No, I'm not going there right now."_

" _On a different note, I was surprised to see the healing machines in the Pokemon Center. They were always used as a convenient handwave for healing in the games, as no kid playing a video game would want to wait around for manual treatment and buying healing items all the time would be infeasible. Considering these healing machines, or I guess the proper name is 'Omni-Trauma Units' take much longer and according to Nurse Joy, only work up to a certain dosage before a pokemon's body begins to reject it, it's definitely not a handwave and explains the need for the Pokemon Center needing to address serious injuries manually. Visually, it looks similar to Heal Pulse, so maybe they were inspired by the move? I dunno, I'll research that. I was surprised absolutely none to find that the units are made by Silph Co, who still gives me dystopia megacorp vibes sometimes."_

" _In other news, I came dangerously close to outing myself as a... foreigner... like a moron. A dragon-tamer named Zinnia, who forced herself in our group, nearly caught me after I blurted some half-remembered line about her tribe, the Draconids. At first, I was reluctant to let her come, but she and her Shelgon were the ones who defeated Vulpix. She and her pokemon are strong, something that may be useful later. As much as the back of my mind is telling me it's a bad idea, the protection she can offer outweighs the risk just the slightest amount."_

" _We're setting out in the morning, and I've got to get to bed, so that's it for this one. Lee, out."_

* * *

" _Log eight, day forty-one... Fuck."_

" _I got my Treecko, and a Corvisquire, both on total accident yesterday. We finally made it to Petalburg Woods and began our way inside. For several hours it was uneventful. Or it was uneventful for Brendan and Zinnia, I was too enchanted by all the pokemon to really notice the time passing. Anyway, we stopped for lunch and Brendan's Shoomish wandered away. We found him by a ransacked Pecha bush, and the owner of said bush was_ _ **not**_ _happy."_

" _This was the first time I've seen a Corvisquire. I vaguely recall his last form, Corviknight, from promos for the latest game, but other than that, he was a total unknown. I knew my meta knowledge was only going to get more and more unreliable, but this threw me for a loop."_

" _Corvisquire came down at Brendan and Shroomish like a missile, and in such a cramped clearing, only Vulpix had the agility to fight him, so we did."_

" _My Pokedex gave it's a little blurb about Corvisquire when I was identifying him, saying that his kind are masters of gauging an opponent. This guy came down, saw three humans, a Vulpix, a Shroomish, a Shelgon, and a Swablu, and decided fighting was a good idea. It didn't take long to figure out why. Even with me and Vulpix going full-tilt, Corvisquire kept pace, even taking a Will-o-Wisp to the back and getting up like nothing happened. It looked like we had the edge, then he busted out Extremespeed."_

" _I would call Vulpix fast. With Quick Attack, she can move so fast that her features blur together to the naked eye, making her little more than an orange, fox-shaped smear. Normally the whole 'move so fast you vanish' thing is a common occurrence in TV to signify someone moving quickly, but to actually see a pokemon be there one second, then be gone the next with the displaced air cracking loud enough to echo in the woods is... something else. I know there must be some trick to Extremespeed, because if my napkin-math is right, Corvisquire would need to move at roughly mach 50 to become invisible, and super-durability or no, I have a hard time believing a bird would not practically atomize itself at such a speed. The delay between his vanishing and his actual attack landing also points to Extremespeed not being mach 50... Unless physics here are different from my earth's. Shit, that's going to keep me awake."_

" _Vulpix managed a miracle right before she collapsed, firing off a Fire Spin so huge it was like an orange, F1 tornado spawned from nowhere in the forest. Vulpix's eyes glowed the same color as hellfire, and she somehow shielded me from the attack despite how I should have been fried. Zinnia's Shelgon popped a quick Protect to keep her and Brendan safe. Corvisquire was caught in the whirlwind and had countless burns and contusions to show for it. At the mouth of the tornado, he was thrown almost a fourth of a mile with enough force to make an indent in a tree we found him in. This is where we found the Treecko colony."_

" _Professor, I'm going to confess something I regret. I caught a Treecko I know was supposed to go to another trainer. The damage Corvisquire's impact did to the tree caused the mammoth thing to fall down. It was a long-dead tree and was on borrowed time, but it was still the home of the Treecko colony. As it fell, the Treecko in question froze up, and Corvisquire was still unconscious at the best of the tree. I threw two hail-mary pokeballs and caught both of them, thus saving them, with pure luck. I could justify keeping Corvisquire, as we beat him one-on-one and letting a dangerous pokemon like him go would be irresponsible, but Treecko..."_

" _I should have let him go. He wasn't meant to be mine, yet I kept him, because I know he grows to be a Legendary contender, and thats legendary with a capital L. Was that wrong of me?"_

" _I just... Shit, moving on."_

" _A gave Treecko a rudimentary physical to get a baseline. Physically he's in good shape, mentally I can't say for sure. He just lost his home, after all. Corvisquire was given a Rawst berry that I had Vulpix sniff out to take the edge off his burns and promptly returned to his ball. He'll need a visit to a Pokemon Center to get back up and running. I'm hoping he's not going to be difficult, but I get the feeling he is. I am sick and tired of this forest so we're going to bed to make haste out of here. Once we're in Rustboro, we'll begin training for our gym match. Lee, out."_

* * *

" _Long nine, day forty-two. We're in Rustboro and have some non-flammable training grounds to use. I've had Vulpix limited to just control exercises like maintaining a hovering fireball and moving fireballs along short paths as to avoid a forest fire. We're lucky her Fire Spin was so intense it turned everything it touched to ash instantly, or I'd probably have the Rangers jumping up my ass. Our attempts so far to replicate her burst of power in the forest have been... Well, the less said the better."_

" _I dropped Corvisquire off at the Pokemon Center, and Nurse Joy cleared him after a round or two under the Omnitrauma. The little bird has been... combative to say the least. He's yet to directly disobey me, even in the gym battle we had today. He even ran an unsupervised errand for me by getting my gym registration in my stead, so I'll count my blessings there."_

" _in the meantime, I had Vulpix and Treecko begin their own training. Vulpix's physical conditioning is at a level I would call adequate, and she continues to gain lean muscle at a steady rate, so we'll likely dial that back some in favor of more pyrokinesis. For reference, one of the few times I could coax her into playing with me, she easily pulled me off my feet with just a jerk of her neck during a tug-of-war with a rope toy. Before we get too in-depth with her pyro powers, I'll have her help me teach Treecko Quick Attack. It's a wonderful movement option as well as being a force multiplier, and would help his rather tame movepool."_

" _This brings us to the last event of today: my gym battle with Roxanne."_

" _I went to the Rustboro Trainer School to see about taking a class or two, and Gym Leader Roxanne was there. Rather than have us wait, she offered to let us battle right there if I helped her teach a class and kept an open mind about working with the School in the future."_

" _Professor, I know you said your sponsorship would open a lot of doors for me, but I didn't realize it would be_ _ **this**_ _many. She took one look at my ID, saw my title, and practically offered whatever I wanted to work for the School. I told her I'd be open to projects here and there but that my primary research belongs to the lab."_

Birch sighs in relief and wipes his forehead.

" _The battle was something else. I had no idea that gym leaders have two teams, one for challengers and one of their own personal teams. Considering the citadel-like arrangement of all the regions, it makes sense that gym leaders are stronger than they let on since they more or less rule their cities. The mayors and local governments may say whatever they want, I know the League is really in charge with their monopoly on power. Also, they do need to give young trainers a fair chance, or the League tournaments would be barren."_

" _Anyway, we battled her real team and squeaked out a narrow win. Corvisquire thrashed Roxanne's Geodude with Steel Wing and Extremespeed. Just him having Extremespeed and being a Galar native pokemon makes me think Corvisquire had a prior trainer or let him go, but that's for another time. He was felled by her much more powerful Nosepass, and despite the type disadvantage, I put Vulpix in."_

" _We held our own, but when it got down to the wire, we had to make a leap of faith. Nosepass's Sandstorm was fouling all of Vulpix's shots because she couldn't see, so using telepathy, I plugged her sight to my eyes so she could fight from the 3rd person. I didn't ex-"_

Birch once again pauses the recording and tries to process what he's heard. They pulled the sense-sharing trick, _again._ No, they pulled an even more extreme version. If Lee is being one hundred percent truthful, then they just performed something **impossible.**

Telepathy with meaningful communication is only seen in one in a thousand telepathy-capable pokemon, and telepathy with one-to-one understanding is easily fifty times as rare. There was exactly **one** report of a blind man who owned an Alakazam saying he sometimes saw wispy things when his pokemon was near him, supposedly things Alakazam was looking at, but nothing came of it. Now, full overriding of senses?

"That doesn't happen..." Birch whispers to himself. He swallows, but it doesn't help his suddenly dry throat any. The brains of people and pokemon are just _too different._ Countless men, all with decades of experience and access to near-infinite League resources, had tried and failed what Lee did casually.

First the pyrokinesis, now this? _**What did he do differently?**_ It could not have been just an accident. Or was it?

Does... Does Lee even _know_ of such a limitation? That can't be it... can it?

Birch eyeballs the videophone in the corner, now feeling out of his depth. He shakes his head and clicks 'play' again.

He and Lee need to talk soon.

" _-ect it to work so well, but we won when her last barrage of Ember hit."_

" _Then Steven Stone walked up."_

Birch feels his blood pressure skyrocket.

" _He was, ah, a surprisingly personable guy, all things considered. I guess you get used to being nice to everyone in such a public position of responsibility. He instantly knew Vulpix and I used telepathy and watched her pyrokinesis in action, so I guess our chance of surprising him became an even bigger pipe dream. Jesus. Anyway, thats all for this one. Lee, out."_

* * *

" _Day forty-six. I should probably start doing these on my phone. My Pokegear? Is Pokegear the name or the brand? Eh, it's a phone. The pokedex is fine as for its own functions, but sending huge media files through this thing takes for fucking ever and kills the battery. Anyway, as I've noted before, Treecko's growth is nothing short of explosive. He's been working hard to master Quick Attack, and now has an adequate grasp after only a few days. He's in excellent shape and health, and I have full intention of helping him stay that way, He throws himself into training with admirable aplomb, but I have fears of him burning out."_

There is a short pause.

" _We'll... work on that more later. Corvisquire was already powerful at his time of capture and his performance in battle speaks volumes of his abilities. He improves quickly as well, adding power and technique to each of his moves with their repeated use. Now I just wish he would curb his enthusiasm for violence...Again, we're working on it."_

_"On to other topics, I'm glad that both Treecko and Corvisquire are responding well to their diets. Corvisquire was easy, as I just copied Vulpix's mix with more red meat and some grains substituted with nuts. To ensure healthy armor growth upon his eventual evolution to Corviknight, who I'm told is a Steel-type, I do add some iron supplements in for him. Treecko is where I ran into issues. I was surprised to learn the Treecko line is strictly herbivorous. I guess it makes sense given the Grass typing, but it threw me off. I admit I'm... not well versed with herbivores, as I spent most of my time working with carnivores. His mix should meet all his nutritional and calorie requirements even with his instance on harsh training factored in, but it leaves taste as something to be desired. I'll wrap this up as I've got to go. Brendan's match with the Rustboro gym leader is coming up and my team is about done with lunch. Lee, out."_

* * *

" _Log eleven, day fifty."_

" _I don't have a ton to report on this one, as we talked on the phone regarding my 'concerns' a few days ago. We're in-route to Dewford. Recently, I've been working with my pokemon in earnest to create custom moves, as you'll see by the attached file. It's been going well I think. For Vulpix, Convergence still needs more work, and Fox Fire is still in the fanciful dream stage, but we'll get there."_

" _I've also been training with Corvisquire to further abuse Extremespeed and to try and figure out the secret to Swift's homing ability. We've been able to get Swift to change targets mid-flight, but thats all. It's frustrating Corvi something fierce. In another vein, research by a somewhat unknown researcher from Galar named Doctor Castel suggests the Corviknight line has a smattering of Dark mixed in with their Steel and Flying types. Not much, but enough to be useful. I'm really hoping this is the case. Why? I was re-reading the section in 'Type Advantages for Trainers in a Hurry' regarding how Dark moves normally have a level of homing built into them like Faint Attack and Pursuit, as the Dark energy naturally gravitates toward anything living, or emitting 'aura' I guess. If we can transmigrate Dark energy into Swift, we'll have a seriously difficult move to dodge, see my notes on the custom move: Pursuers."_

" _Treecko, meanwhile, has been learning Faint Attack from Vulpix. It's taking longer than Quick Attack since Faint Attack is not a move that the Sceptile line learns naturally and this is the first time Treecko has ever had to mold Dark energy, but Vulpix is a patient teacher and Treecko is a stellar student. Fuck, I'm kind of kicking myself for not realizing the potential of such a move before. I know it's not as fast as Extremespeed, but when used, I can't seem to follow the user with my eyes. No one can. It's as if my eyes just slide off of them and my brain just refuses to acknowledge that there is something there. I know there is a word for this but it escapes me right now. If we can apply that effect to projectiles... Anyway, I got to see a Vaporeon in action as she chased away a full-grown Sharpedo harassing the cargo ship taking us to Dewford, then I got to see her melt into a drain as a mass of water. What an unfair, broken ability that I must have. Vaporeon went to the top of my wanted list, and I will have one. I'm going to finish up here and send this before the cell signal gets too weak. Lee, out."_

By now, Birch is too tired to be surprised by the revelation of entirely new moves being created and sighs, promising himself he'll be amped up later. He scrolls down the folder with all the audio files to find a single picture and several text files as well.

Clicking on the first one, it's a rather straightforward list of pokemon names written on photo-copied paper, presumably ones that Lee wants. Several are crossed out, and the last one is almost entirely scribbled out.

_-More to be added-_

_Vaporeon_

_Eevee?_

_S̶n̶o̶r̶e̶l̶a̶x̶_

_Flygon_

_Audino/Chansey/Blissey_

_Seviper/Zangoose (only one)_

_Persian_

_Absol? Research More_

_Kecleon_

_Manectric/Luxray_

_Kangaskhan? Research More_

_Mienshao_

_Latias/Latios - Wishful thinking_

_L̶m̶a̶o̶ B̶r̶a̶i̶x̶e̶n̶_

_L̶u̶c̶a̶r̶i̶o̶_

████ _wo-_ _Get real_

* * *

Birch closes the file then goes to the next one.

* * *

_Custom Techniques - Vulpix_

_#1_

_Name: Convergence_

_-Fire-type_

_Description: Fireballs spontaneously manifest around target and converge, exploding for Fire damage._

_+Leaves little room to dodge._

_+Strikes all points of foe, negating need to aim for weakpoints_

_-Slower than Protect. Current speed can be dodged by faster foes that aren't surprised._

_Notes:_

_Requires pyrokinesis. (See - Vulpix bio notes)_

_Power good. Need to work on explosion sync, projectile speed, and energy consumption._ _ Don't use in serious battles. _

_#2_

_Name: Fox Fire (Name not final)_

- _Fire-type_

_STILL IN CONCEPTUAL PHASE_

_Description: Fox-shaped flame clone runs down engages foe as a separate combatant. Explodes for Fire damage when defeated._

_Notes: Vulpix's pyrokinesis has a long way to go before she can exert this level of control midbattle. Very cool, but very impractical (for now)_

* * *

Birch whistles to himself as he closes the file. "That's bold, but game-changing if it can be done." He clicks the next one, feeling eager.

* * *

_Custom Techniques - Corvisquire_

_#1_

_ Name: Pursuers _

- _Dark-type_

_STILL IN CONCEPTUAL PHASE_

_Description: N/A_

_Notes: Swift needs deconstructed first._

* * *

The next file, the one for Treecko, is empty, leaving Birch to lean back in his chair as his throughs swirl a mile a minute.

"Medi?"

He looks up, seeing his Medicham at his office door with a bottle of aspirin and glass of water already in his hands.

Birch laughs. "Thank you, old friend. Lee is giving me a headache again and you're right on time. Here, come take a look at this," he says, turning his computer monitor around and opening the files again.

Medicham steps closer and listens to each of the audio files, then looks at the text files with his face as impassive as stone. After a long moment, the pokemon looks between his trainer and the aspirin in his hand, before sighing and tossing the little pills in his own mouth without any shame.


	18. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence._

_I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience._

**Big chapter, small peepee (me)**

* * *

"Almost done, love."

Standing still upon their motel bed, Vulpix stares at the wall with her chocolate eyes unfocused as Lee's hands poke and prod her body. From her mind, Lee feels her vague sense of deja vu bleeding over to him.

Beside Lee, Treecko sits quietly in a deep meditative stance, his eyes closed and breathing slow. Were it not for the little corrections he makes to his posture whenever Lee jostles the bed, He would have thought his pokemon to be asleep.

Finally, at the foot of the bed, Corvisquire watches Vulpix's physical with barely veiled distaste, and his wings tensed to flap. Had he teeth, Lee is certain Corvisquire would be bearing them.

Lee gently takes Vulpix's chin and gives her jaw a little squeeze, making her open her mouth and he peers inside with a penlight held in his other hand. Silently, he marvels at the feeling of her powerful jaw muscles under his fingers. One bite and jerk of her neck would rend flesh with ease, he thinks. He'll have to order a bite-force gauge and pick it up at the next Pokemart they visit.

"Teeth, pearly and white. Gums, pink and healthy." Lee smiles, releasing her jaw to pet the curls of fur on her head, drawing a few wags from her tails. The man smiles and picks up the pen and notebook at his side, jotting several notes down.

_Weight: 24.6 lbs (+0.9 from last)_

_Height: 2'3" (Discounting ears)_

_Muscle formation remains even and consistent. Fur growth even and consistent. Temperature at 112_ _F. Free of illness/parasites. Vulpix bored but alert during the whole process._

_Mouth/Teeth: OK_

_Ears: OK_

_Eyes: OK_

_Lungs: OK_

_Heart: OK_

_Stomach: OK_

"So, that's everything, Corvi," Lee smiles at the crow, taking care to not show his teeth. "A check-up is as easy as can be. If you're up to it, we can do yours."

For a split-second, it seems as if Corvisquire actually considers the offer, then he turns his beak up with a scoff and turns away.

Vulpix levels the crow with a frown for the rude dismissal and Lee tries to not let his disappointment show on his face.

_Knock knock!_

"It's open!" Lee calls, scooping up the equipment scattered across his bed and depositing it messily into his backpack. The digital scale and thermometer get stuck on each other and require him to shake the whole backpack for them to drop inside.

The door of the tiny motel room opens, revealing a wet, grinning, swimming-trunks clad Brendan with an absolutely beaming Marshtomp behind him. Behind them, Zinnia follows in with several plastic bags held in one hand.

"Are you still couped up in here?" Brendan asks, wiping sand off of his feet before setting further in. "C'mon! The ocean is warm and the beach is open!"

"What he means to say, is that the Brawl on the Beach is starting soon, so up you go!" Zinnia whips one of the bags in her hand at Lee, who fumbles and catches it at the last second. "I guestimated your size since you were too lazy to come with, so sorry not sorry if they're sized wrong."

"I told you, I needed to swing by the gym and register then perform Vulpix's physical," Lee grumbles, still sour that the Dewford gym website was down, necessitating a long, early morning walk there. He opens the bag in his hands and finds a plain pair of dark green swimming trunks and a pair of cheap flip-flops.

Zinnia just turns her nose up mockingly. "What guy turns down the chance to watch their stupidly sexy friend try on bikinis all morning?" She gives her head an exaggerated shake and clicks her tongue in disapproval.

"A guy with dignity, maybe?" Brendan dryly remarks, making Marshtomp chuckle.

Zinnia steps past him, purposely billowing her cloak out to whack Brendan in the face. "I'm using your bathroom to change, then you're up. We've got a tournament to win, so don't take forever!" She slips into the small bathroom at the end of the motel room and shuts the door behind her.

Brendan rubs his smarting cheek with a grumble. "Jeez, what's her damage?" He wonders aloud. Brendan crosses the room to his bed and digs in his backpack, withdrawing three empty pokeballs before stuffing them in his pocket. "Me and Marshtomp are gunna duck out of watching that tournament if it gets boring and go to the Granite Cave," Brendan says, looking back at Lee. "In the meantime, we're going back to the ocean. See ya!" With that, Brendan and Marshtomp zoom off.

Lee shakes his head, then turns when the bathroom door opens.

Out strolls Zinnia, clad in a black and red striped bikini that tightly hugs her figure and leaves little to the imagination, almost seeming a size too small. On her head, a pair of sunglasses sit unused, and her hair tie is absent, letting her roughly hewn fall down to her neck. She smiles at him, eyes sparkling with mischief. In the back of his mind, Lee wonders how she has no tan lines before his imagination provides an answer that makes his face grow warm.

A nudge from Vulpix quickly snaps him out of his starring before Zinnia can comment on it. "Yeah, yeah, let me finish cleaning and I'll be along."

* * *

In the full-length bathroom mirror wearing just his swimming trunks, Lee silently regards himself.

Never could he be called overweight on earth, as the zoo gave him enough work to do, but the presence of all the food stands and the small food court that all gave discounts to staff sabotaged his poor self-control. He was forever in the boring middle-zone of formless and average. Now, after weeks of walking being his main mode of transport and most of his meals being lean and self-made, he now sports the slightest amount of definition. If he squints, he could almost say he has abs.

' _That probably won't last long.'_

What truly draws his attention are the marks the now bare parts of his body exposed.

His hands and forearms bear pale, thin, cross-crossing lines of marred flesh that most cat handlers acquire after several years on the job. Some are deeper and more visible, but most are faded with age. His torso and legs have several blemishes caused by young claws and teeth too playful for their own good, and he knows there are one or two small ones on his back. Most of the damage is too minor to see from a distance unless an observer is looking for imperfections, but...

Looking further up his right arm, an ugly, messy bite mark marrs his bicep and wraps around to his tricep, a permanent reminder to a younger, more disrespectful Lee to not overstep bounds.

He had only been under Aasir's mentorship for several months when he got too comfortable on the job and paid for it. Usiku was the name of the old panther who taught him the painful lesson, and it was only Aasir's intervention that let him get away with his arm still mostly in one piece. The older keeper yelled himself hoarse in a livid fury after tending to his idiotic student's wounds.

Lee pushes away the thoughts of his mentor in favor of the present, looking himself over again, self-consciousness rearing its ugly head the longer he inspects himself. Brendan has seen a bit of Lee while uncovered and simply thought all the marks cool as most young boys might.

Zinnia has seen none of them, which is its own bundle of worries, but the sheer number of strangers who will see and judge makes him falter. Surely claw and bite scars upon a trainer when pokemon are normally so docile is a mark of shame?

"Hey!" Zinnia pounds on the bathroom door. "Did you stop to take a dump and fall in? Hurry up already! We've got twenty minutes to be there!"

With a sigh, Lee grabs his wallet and shrunken pokeballs off of the bathroom sink and stuffs them into his pockets. He opens the door to find a surprised Zinnia, who stops with her hand raised to knock again. "No need to bust down the door, I'm here," Lee remarks.

Zinnia looks up and down his body, eyes lingering here and there before she smirks. "I would have figured you more built under that jacket. At least you aren't flabby," she says, reaching out a hand to poke his arm. "Well, c'mon! Times-a wasting!" The dragon tamer nabs her own pokeballs from where they lay on Brendan's bed, which are all attached to a loose belt that she loops around her waist just barely tight enough to not fall from around her hips. She throws the motel door open and saunters off, leaving Lee behind.

He looks over to Vulpix, who watches silently from his bed. "Again, I think you're the only one I can rely on," he says, making to follow after Zinnia.

The vixen snorts and hops to his shoulders when Lee pauses to lock the motel room door behind him. The soft fur across his bare shoulders and neck soothes his worry just a bit.

The pair turn, and find the beach right off the front doorstep, complete with a beating sun, white sands, the sounds of children playing in the waves, and the waves themselves.

Lee looks back at the somewhat ratty motel they rented from with a frown. "This place looked better in the dark. Premium beachfront spot my ass," he grumbles, speeding up to match pace with Zinnia, who glances at him as she pulls her sunglasses down over her eyes.

"Any idea who all is in this tournament? Or is it just locals?" Lee asks as he weaves past a laughing young boy being chased by a Zigzagoon. Looking further down the beach in front of one of the resorts, he sees a large gathering of people and pokemon by a lifeguard tower and can already hear bombastic music. "The flier made this look like a huge thing."

"Brawl on the Beach is to draw tourists in," Zinnia answers bluntly. "Most trainers come for the gym and leave afterward, which doesn't draw a ton of interest since everyone can just watch gym battles on TV. This is to squeeze some of that sweet, sweet moolah out of vacationers and passing trainers. The ten grand prize, band bookings, permits for running the event and all that other stuff?" She guffaws into her hand. "I bet they make that back thirty times over easy just by selling overpriced food and souvenir stand junk."

And indeed, as they get closer to the lifeguard tower sporting a large telescreen saying "Brawl on the Beach", they pass several stands on the outskirts, one of which is selling just hotdogs and beers for an unearthly $5 and $7 respectively. The grinning vendor has a line several beachgoers long.

"God damn," Lee swears. "Go back to the motel to eat, loud and clear."

The pair of trainers and shoulder-riding pokemon slip between the crowd to the lifeguard tower, where a table with a sign saying "registration" taped to the front is set-up under the telescreen. There, an older, rotund man in flower-print swimming trunks and a bored-looking teen girl in a one-piece swimsuit sit behind a pair of laptops. The man is already talking to a pair of boys clutching pokeballs, so the girl perks up as Lee and Zinnia approach. Her eyes glide off of Zinnia to Lee, making them widen as she takes in his visage.

"Zinnia Draconid and Lee Henson, reporting for the tournament," Zinnia grins and takes charge of the conversation from the get-go. "We should be reserved."

Inwardly, Lee feels himself shrinking and fights to keep his face impassive, now acutely aware of how many stares he's getting from Zinnia's announcement.

"O-Oh, sure!" The girl pulls her eyes off of Lee and looks down at her laptop. "Can I see your IDs and the pokeballs of the pokemon you're using?"

Lee wordlessly pulls his pokeballs and ID from his pocket, handing them to the outstretched hand of the attendant girl. She looks at the ID for a moment and types several things down, then holds each pokeball before a scanner on the front of the laptop, which beeps after each pokeball. The girl hands the card and balls back, and repeats the same process with Zinnia.

After typing a few more things into her laptop, sneaking looks at Lee as she does so, the girl clears her throat. "Looks like everything is in order. You're team number fifteen. Everything should be beginning in abo-"

" _Goooooood morning Dewford!"_ The speakers up on the corners of the lifeguard tower blare, echoing up and down the beach. A reedy, middle-aged man dressed like a beach bum with a wide smile and a microphone on the tower waves an arm out to everyone. _"It's that time again, time for a Brawl on the Beach!"_

The people and pokemon all gathered around cheer, drowning out everything else for a moment.

" _We're mixing it up this time, folks,"_ the man on the tower continues. " _For this Brawl, we're doing double battles! You heard that right, doubles! Twice the excitement this time! Sixteen teams of two will compete in single-elimination style for ten-thousand credits and the right to be Dewford's Dynamic Duo till the next Brawl!"_ The man moves to the side to make room as someone else climbs up the steps of the tower. _"I'm local radio host Josh Speakmen, and joining me today to commentate on today's tournament is..."_

Stepping up beside Speakmen with a charming smile is none other than the Dewford Gym Leader.

"Brawly!"

Again, the crowd gathered under the lifeguard tower cheer, which redoubles when Brawly waves down to everyone.

Lee ignores the crowd in favor of looking at Brawly. The man's excellent physique, tall form, and handsome face make it obvious why a number of girls and even a pokemon or two in the gathering around the tower sport blushes and have eyes only for him. In the corner of his vision, he can see Zinnia rub her chin and eye the Gym Leader appreciatively.

Brawly takes a second microphone offered to him by Speakmen with a smile. " _Thank you everyone for the warm welcome!"_ He says, his surfer bro voice rolling up and down the beach. _"This year's Brawl is going to be a blast, I can already feel it. We've got some real talent competing today so this'll be one for the books!"_ He says. As he talks, his eyes scan the crowd below, stopping on Lee, Vulpix, and Zinnia for a second longer than anyone else.

' _That's not ominous at all...'_

Vulpix sniffs dismissively from his shoulder. _'Y** ***** *** *u**.'_

" _Then without further ado, lets get the battles underway!"_ Speakmen cries, drawing a pokeball. With a toss, the ball flies high and pops open, throwing down a bolt of light into an empty spot in the crowd. Several people back up as a Vibrava materializes in the sand with a buzz of his wings.

' _A Vibrava?'_ Lee blinks _'What's up with this?'_

The dragonfly pokemon buzzes his wings again and then dives headfirst into the sand, vanishing with the crunch of displaced earth, then the sand begins to rumble under everyone's feet, prompting a wave of backing up.

The mussed sand vibrates and flattens into a circle almost a hundred feet across, radiating out from the center. On one end, the sand bunches up and forms the borders of a box large enough for two people to stand in with room to spare, and on the other side, another border-box forms. After a second, little flags pop out of the sand in each box, a red one and a blue one. The end result is a clean, circular battlefield.

"Wow..." Lee absently applauds with everyone else as Vibrava emerges out of the sand and flies back up to Speakmen. _'Flygon went up a little more on my list.'_

" _Let's welcome our first competitors,"_ Speakmen says. _"Start the roll!"_

On the side of the tower, the telescreen stops scrolling through sponsor logos and displays all the names of the competing trainers. The screen rapidly scrambles them then throws the names into a bracket. The screen highlights the first fight with a red box.

_JANE & MANTY_

_VS_

_AMIR & DON_

Lee feels Zinnia lightly elbow his side and looks over, following her pointing finger to the screen. "Looks like we're battle number four," she says, and indeed, they're slated to fight in the fourth match against a pair of trainers named Deb and Jean.

Speakmen smiles and waves a hand out. _"First up is the daughter and father duo from our own Dewford, give it up for Jane and Manty!"_

From the people gathered around the ring, a young brunette girl, probably around Brendan's age, and an older man with a laugh-line creased face wave to everyone amid applause and take the blue box.

" _And next up is Amir all the way from Unova, and Don of Slateport!"_

A pair of teen boys, one sporting a desert tan, and the other in an entirely too-bold speedo take the other box with dramatic waves to the spectators.

" _Our first heat will be one pokemon per trainer."_ Brawly picks up as the crowd quiets down from the competitor announcement. _"Once one team has no pokemon left to battle, the opposing team will advance. Trainers, please send out your selections!"_ Brawly cries as Speakmen returns his Vibrava and withdraws another pokeball.

The girl, Jane, throws out a Greatball. "Go, Pinchy!"

At the same time, her father throws a pokeball of his own, "Wingull!"

On the side of the father and daughter, a Corpish and a Wingull take form. As they send out their pokemon, the boys across from them do the same.

"Dewott, you've got this!" Amir tosses a pokeball with a water drop sticker upon it.

The other boy, Don, whips his pokeball high in the air without an intro.

From their pokeballs, a Dewott and a Swellow take their places on the field, Dewott smirking confidently while Swellow screeches up from above.

" _It's Corphish and Wingull versus Dewott and Swellow!"_ Speakmen calls. _"Dewott is a rare and powerful Water pokemon from the far away land of Unova, and Swellow is the fast and furious evolution of Taillow! On the other side we've got Corphish, one of the toughest Water-types around, and Wingull, the high-flying Water and Flying type we all know and love! What are your thoughts on this one, Brawly?_ " He turns to the Gym Leader.

" _Dewott is the one to watch in this match, Josh,"_ Brawly takes over the commentating seamlessly. _"As you said, they're rare and powerful pokemon. So much so, Unova's rockin' Professor Juniper gives their younger stage, Oshawott, to her Lab Trainers."_

' _Rockin?'_ Lee wonders with his lips twitching up into a smile. _'Honestly? I can't blame him.'_

 _"We're looking at a dynamite first match here! Are all trainers ready?"_ Speakmen asks into his mic, opening his other pokeball, releasing a Hypno that stands at his side.

"Ready!"

"Ready!"

Both sides call at once.

Speakmen's Hypno raises a hand, and a shimmering dome forms over the ring before fading into invisibility, just like with Brendan's battle in the Rustboro gym.

Idly, Lee wonders if Vulpix will be able to make Psychic barriers one day.

" _Begin!"_

What follows is a one-sided and somewhat mediocre battle. It's clear that the girl trainer, Jane, only recently got her Corphish as the trainer and pokemon simply can't synergize at all. Wingull is obviously not a dedicated battler, and is quickly picked off by Swellow, leaving Corphish struggling in a 2v1 match. One good Slash attack from Dewott leaves Corphish with a cracked and useless claw, letting Swellow rush in to his lame side for a knock-out Take Down.

" _And thats the match!"_ Speakmen calls. _"The winners are the red team!"_

The spectators erupt into applause.

Zinnia turns to Lee with a hand on her hip just above her pokeballs. "Those two seemed, eh. Not that great? The winners I mean."

Lee frowns as he watches the teen boys high-five and recall their pokemon. "Dewott fights like a berserker and Swellow's trainer refused to call any attacks unless it was one-hundred percent safe to do so. Quite the dichotomy, but I don't know that such a thing makes for a good battle strategy. One is overtaxing himself and the other is wasting opportunities. Swellow would have been caught in an uneasy one-on-one if Dewott overextended and got nailed by Corphish, who Swellow's trainer refused to engage. If Swellow knew any support moves, at least his time idling would not have been wasted. I could criticize Dewott's trainer more for just brainlessly attacking, but at least he did something." He stops. "I don't mean to shit on a match between some kids and a dad, though. It was fun to watch."

"That's what I was thinking, just in more words," Zinnia laughs. "You're such a nerd."

"I am not..." He grumbles.

The next two matches are much the same, each one taking about ten or so minutes. A Beautifly and Spoink ended up roasted by a Torkoal, whose Clefairy partner stood by running support with Helping Hand and Heal Pulse. A missed Flamethrower from Torkoal splashed against the dome barrier, making for a thrill for the crowd.

The next one was an outright bore until the end. A large Trapinch and a Lotad fought a Sentret and Nincada. The Nincada could barely fight with the harsh sun in it's nocturnal eyes, and a savage Crunch from Trapinch took it out of the fight in a single blow. Sentret's young trainer panicked at the sudden uphill battle and ordered Sentret to run away from his much slower foes and pelt them with Charge Beam. Lotad only needed two hits from Charge Beam to go down, but Trapinch's immunity to Sentret's only ranged attack ment they had to fight for real. The instant Sentret went in for a Fury Swipes attack, foolishly from the front since his trainer did not specify a flanking maneuver, he hesitated right before the attack and took a bone-shattering Crunch for the trouble.

Literally bone-shattering, as there was more than one sickening snap when Trapinch's jaws closed around the rodent pokemon like a steel trap, drawing winces and Oooohhhhh's from the crowd. The on-site Chansey on loan from the Pokemon Center quickly moved in when the match was called and hauled the brutalized Sentrent and distraught trainer away to a medical tent behind the lifeguard tower.

Finally, Lee and Zinnia's match arrives.

_ZINNIA & LEE_

_VS_

_DEB & JEAN_

" _Now for our fourth match, we've got Zinnia of Fallarbor, and Lee of Little Root!"_ Speakmen's voice booms over the PA. _"C'mon up!"_

Lee ignores his prickle of nervousness and holds his face in a mask of cool as he and Zinnia weave through the spectators, who all turn to look at them. They take their place in the red box. As Speakmen calls for the other trainers, Zinnia leans towards Lee.

"Hey, I'm going to use Goomy, these two don't seem like much," Zinnia whispers as the opponents, both teen girls in bikinis, both probably fifteen or sixteen years of age, take their places and send Lee nervous looks. "Goomy'll be more willing to fight with someone on his side... So long as it's not your bird."

"Up to fight, love?" Lee asks Vulpix, who gives him a vulpine smile. He turns back to Zinnia. "Vulpix then."

Zinnia's smirk turns savage.

" _Trainers, please select your pokemon!"_

Vulpix leaps from her trainer's shoulder, barely disturbing the sand as she lands and takes a loose, aloof stance. The action only seems to heighten the anxiety of the opposing trainers, who both clutch their pokeballs closely.

Zinnia keeps her manic smile in place as she draws a pokeball and throws it in the ring. "Goomy, time to tear them up!"

The tiny dragon pokemon appears in a flash of light, already looking resigned, then annoyed when the sand sticks to his damp body. A vulpine purr from Vulpix draws his attention, and the little dragon suddenly seems to realize it's not Vulpix that he's going against, but rather _with._ He draws himself up a little straighter.

"Delcatty, you've got this!" Jean cries, her pokeball flying from her hand.

"Volbeat, go!" Deb follows a second later.

Delcatty and Volbeat materialize on their side of the field. The pair of pokemon meet eyes for a moment and look at their opponents. Delcatty's hackles rise and Volbeat's wings take him several feet up into the air, the lantern on his rear flashing.

" _In one corner, we've got Goomy, a rare Dragon-type pokemon, the first one we've seen in this tournament! What a thrill!"_ Speakmen laughs. _"And his partner is a lovely Vulpix! A real spitfire of a pokemon in more than just the figurative sense. This match is going to be hot!"_ He turns to the girls. _"Then we've got Delcatty, don't let the pretty exterior fool you, a Delcatty's claws will send you to a world of hurt! And with Volbeat's literal razzle-dazzle, we might have our most stylish team yet! Any opinions on this one, Brawly?"_

Brawly raises his mic and looks right at Lee, making him sigh in resignation. _"Yep,"_ Brawly begins. _"Considering Lee Henson here, a Lab Trainer under Professor Birch's employ,"_ he points as if it's needed. _"Defeated Roxanne's own pokemon while working with a type disadvantage, it's my opinion that Vulpix is the strongest pokemon to set foot in the ring yet, maybe the strongest pokemon in Brawl on the Beach in years."_

A number of surrounding people gasp, a few of them raising cellphones and pokenavs to point at Lee and Vulpix. Lee has to seriously fight to keep his face even, but he's sure he's twitched more than once already. It's only Vulpix's silent, telepathic urges for him to keep calm that prevents him from openly shrinking away from the attention.

" _And I doubt someone in his company with a Dragon pokemon is anything but a serious trainer as well,"_ Brawly continues, looking at Zinnia as a smile blooms on his face. _"I gotta say, I'm definitely going all-out when Lee and I battle at the Gym here in a few days. This is the first battle I've been eager for so far this year."_ he crosses his arms as more gasps and chatter breaks out. _"I'm sorry to say, but Miss Jean and Miss Deb have got a seriously uphill battle here. It's time to ride the wave, or drown."_

' _Brawly, you motherfucker,'_ Lee glares up at Brawly with narrowed eyes, making the Gym Leader rock back on his heels, his confusion at the sudden hostility is plain on his face.

If the girls across from Lee and Zinnia looked dismayed before, they're positively petrified now, looking as if a Haunter just flew in their faces. Even their pokemon are measuring up Goomy and Vulpix with great reluctance.

A small part of him is secretly pleased that Vulpix is being regarded with respect, but it's overshadowed by his annoyance courtesy of all the eyes on him. "Lets just get this out of the way," Lee grunts. A second later he kicks himself for his tone when both of the opposing trainers flinch.

" _Are both sides ready?"_

"Ready!" Zinnia practically roars

"Ready..." Both Jean and Deb murmur.

Hypno's barrier shines to life, locking the pokemon in.

Goomy puffs himself up and Vulpix's muscles tense.

Delcatty's hackles rise once more and Volbeat hovers backward a foot or two, uneasy eyes locked onto Vulpix.

Speakmen draws in a breath, but time seems to slow as Lee reaches out to Vulpix telepathically _'Don't activate Drought, love,'_ Lee sends to the vixen. _'No need to dry out Goomy. Also, no need to advertise our telepathy. I'll give verbal instructions, but add details here. They want to put us on the spot? Fine, I guess we can't hide forever, so we'll give them a show here before I lose my nerve. We're not going to drag this out, but neither are we going to show our full hand, got it?'_

She responds with a flicker of wordless understanding, and time seems to resume with the conversation over.

" _Begin!"_

"Quick Attack!" Lee calls first. _'Hit Volbeat, then bounce to Delcatty, who is probably the stronger of the two. We'll let Goomy have the weaker 'Mon and help as needed.'_

Vulpix goes from still to a streak of orange in hardly a second, flying at Volbeat, who freezes like a deer staring down the headlights of a runaway truck. The firefly pokemon can barely brace himself before Vulpix hits him like a furry cannonball, then he's thrown to the sandy ground with a wheeze when the fox pokemon uses him as a springboard and launches herself at a wide-eyed Delcatty.

"D-Delcatty, duck!" Jean stutters out a half-second too late.

Vulpix shoulder checks Delcatty, who yowls in distress when she's knocked clean off of her paws and into the sand. The impact is so violent that the cat pokemon bounces off the sand and comes to a stop several yards away as Vulpix twists and lands on her paws.

" _What a dynamic start!"_ Speakmen booms. _"Vulpix has blitzed both Delcatty and Volbeat! Can Deb and Jean turn this around, or has the tone of the match already been set?"_

"Volbeat!" Deb begins, "Help Delca-!"

"Goomy!" Zinnia's much louder voice cows Deb and makes her falter halfway through her command. "Dragon Breath on Volbeat!"

Goomy gurgles and swells up like a balloon, a green glow shining through his skin, then he opens his mouth and unleashes a torrent of crackling green flames right at Volbeat.

The Bug pokemon buzzes and dives out of the way of the flames, but Goomy, much like his teammate Swablu did in her match with Ash's Taillow, quickly fires off another attack with corrected aim. Volbeat can only squeak before he's engulfed in raging dragonfire that covers any noise of pain he might have made.

' _Zinnia is ruthless as usual, and it looks like even Goomy can throw some good punches if fired up,'_ Lee turns his attention back to Vulpix and Delcatty, but keeps Goomy and Volbeat in the corner of his eye.

Delcatty struggles to her feet, blotchy discoloration blooming on her side as she avoids putting weight on one of her forelegs.

"You can do it, Delcatty!" Jean cries. "Use Feint-"

"Confuse Ray," Lee orders simply.

"-Attack! Uh oh..."

Delcatty stalks forward just as Vulpix's eyes begin to glow, and before Delcatty can fade into Feint Attack's curious invisibility, she jolts as Confuse Ray hits and stumbles face-first into the sand, where she flails helplessly.

From the corner of his eye, Lee watches Volbeat zip at Vulpix in a Quick Attack to try and help Delcatty, but...

"Dragon Breath!"

Volbeat cries out as another plume of green flame washes over him and knocks him away.

" _Things are looking grim for Delcatty and Volbeat!"_ Speakmen says as the burnt and battered Volbeat struggles to stand. _"Vulpix and Goomy are dominating the match and their opponents can barely muster a defense! They need to get up and get going if they're going to win this!"_

' _Sorry girls, I hate to be a dick but I need this cash for my Eevee fund,'_ Lee sighs. He turns his head to Zinnia. "Ready to finish this up?"

Zinnia rubs her chin. "Goomy doesn't have a good finisher unless you want to take both of them out."

"Have him knock Volbeat towards Vulpix, and we'll end it," Lee replies, getting a nod from her.

"Vulpix, Fire Spin."

The vixen's eyes light up the same color as balefire as a wide ring of writhing, spinning flames comes to life along the ground around her with the still struggling and confused Delcatty in the radius. The flames begin to pick up speed, spinning faster and faster, growing more intense...

"Goomy, Watergun just behind Volbeat!" Zinnia orders, her evil smile widening as she watches Fire Spin dramatically begin to spool up. "Throw him into Fire Spin!"

"Volbeat!" Deb struggles to think of an order. "G-Get out of there!"

Her partner Jean just watches with resignation, her head dropping into her hands.

The slug-dragon swells like a balloon again then spits a bowling ball-sized orb of water that hits the ground at Volbeat's side like a bomb, throwing water everywhere and the firefly into the air at Vulpix.

The second Volbeat crosses into the ring of fire from above, the glow in Vulpix's eyes doubles in intensity, then...

A whirling tower of inferno explodes into existence, rising up and splashing against the top of the barrier with both the roar of a wildfire and shrill shriek of a tornado. Sand is dragged into the blazing whirlwind and swiftly turned to glass, making a crystalline ring around the perimeter that glows a molten red.

" _Holy smokes!"_ Speakmen exclaims as the spectators roar along with the fire. _"It's like Vulpix opened a portal to the underworld! I would have expected this out of a Charizard, not a little Vulpix! The insanity! I don't think Delcatty and Volbeat are walking away from this one, folks!"_

After several seconds of hell on earth, Fire Spin fades and dissipates in wisps of flickering orange, throwing Delcatty and Volbeat carelessly into the sand, thankfully away from any glass. Both pokemon lay limp and coated in burns, unable to fight further. In the middle of the cooling glass ring, Vulpix stands on a little island of sand, her chest rising and falling deeply.

" _One! Two! Three!"_ Speakmen blows an air horn in his other hand. _"Thats it! Vulpix and Goomy are the winners!"_

Cheers ring out as the barrier falls, letting everyone recall their pokemon. The girls across from Lee and Zinnia dejectedly recall their pokemon, turning to the Chansey already behind them and handing the pokeballs over.

Zinnia recalls Goomy with a wide grin and kisses the ball when the tiny dragon is safely inside. "I knew you could do it!" She cheers. "You just gotta have some confidence in yourself, Goom. You're stronger than you know."

The ball wiggles in her hand.

Lee smiles at the scene as Vulpix retakes her place across his shoulder. "Damn fine job, love," he tells her, smiling a bit wider when she presses her forehead to his unmarred cheek. He reaches up and rubs behind her ear, pulling her a little closer in a facsimile of a hug.

" _What an explosive match! What did you think of that one, everyone!?"_

Everyone cheers and Lee even sees someone hold up a poster board sign with a hastily drawn Vulpix and Goomy upon it.

" _Just like Brawly predicted, Lab Trainer Lee's Vulpix and Zinnia's Goomy aced the fight! All without taking a single hit, to boot!"_ Speakmen's excitement is almost tangible. _"There's a storm overhanging this competition, a firestorm! Can anyone brave it? We'll find out here soon, as we'll be taking a short break to clean up the ring. Standby, everyone!"_

Again, Vibrava flies to the center of the ring and dives into the ground with Dig. The ring rumbles, then the sand begins to spiral inward, pulling the glass to the center where it cracks and grinds back to sand as it sinks underground. Vibrava has obviously done this before.

Lee, Vulpix, and Zinnia step back into the spectators, many of whom crowd up close practically bursting with questions and congratulations.

"That was nuts! How does a Vulpix get that strong?" A teenage boy with a surfboard under his arm gapes at them. The Marill at his feet mirrors his expression perfectly.

"Or that fast?" A pretty young woman in a white sundress asks, standing _very_ close. "She was a blur! There one second, gone the next. And that fur of hers is glorious. What's your rate for breeding?"

"Miss Zinnia! Miss Zinnia!" A young girl runs up, weaving through the legs of adults to reach the dragon tamer. "Was that really a dragon? Do you have others? Can I see em?!"

"Hey, guys..." A man and a woman holding hands approach. They're the Trapinch and Lotad trainers from the prior match and both are openly nervous. "So, uh. We're fighting in the next heat. Can you maybe take it easy? We're not pros or anything..."

"You kids ain't half bad!" A round, grinning man clad in a blue alolan shirt and sunglasses steps up. "What were your names again? Lee and Zinnia? It's not everyday you see talent like this."

Zinnia's temper is getting ready to blow as more people crowd them, Lee can see it on her darkening face. For a second, Lee is tempted to let her do it if it'll make all the prying eyes just _back up a little!_

Vulpix nips his ear, sending him an image of Professor Birch, then his ID card with his title of _Laboratory Trainer_ in sharp relief.

' _Shit. It'll look bad for both us and the lab if Zinnia opens her trap.'_ Lee shuts his eyes and sighs. Then he reopens them and tries to put on his best _answer dumb questions from zoo guests_ face. "Everyone! One at a time, please!" He starts, stopping Zinnia short from yelling "Fuck off" or something equally offensive. "I'll answer everything as best I can till the next match starts. If you still have questions for myself or the Hoenn Pokemon Lab, I can provide you with my email and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

' _Which is to say you'll find yourself in my spam folder if what you have to say is stupid.'_

"Anyway," Lee points to the surfer boy and his Marill. "Vulpix has been on a harsh training regimen and diet customized down to the calorie from day one to maximize her power for her eventual evolution to Ninetales. Hours upon hours, day in and day out. It asks a lot of both the trainer and pokemon, and not every method works best for everyone. Do your research before making any drastic changes to your pokemon's diet and routine. Next..." He turns to the woman in the sundress, who looks at him with large, hope-filled eyes. "Vulpix and I discussed such a matter awhile ago. She has no interest in breeding for profit, and I certainly won't force the issue," he says, making the woman's face fall.

For roughly ten minutes, Lee, aided by Vulpix and sometimes an irritated Zinnia, field questions from and talk to the small crowd that has gathered around them. As Lee expects, a lot of the questions are asinine or intrusive, which get polite non-answers, but a surprising number of them are fairly intelligent things that it would do a trainer well to know. For several, he has to tell them to email him and he'll get back to them, as he simply does not know, and others he has to keep short, lest they turn into full lectures. Of the handful of business cards Birch gave him, he's down to just two copies after giving out many of them.

"Hey pal, I got a question for ya. Do you think you're hot shit because Brawly called you out?"

The chatter in the group quiets as everyone turns to the person to ask such a bold thing.

Lee follows the voice, turning to the side, where he finds a young, sneering face pointed at him.

Before him stands an older teen boy, perhaps seventeen, with maroon eyes and hair down to his chin. His feet sport simple sandals partially covered by his long, ripped up jeans, and his torso is covered with a black sleeveless shirt. Most of his maroon hair is covered by a loose black beanie, sans a bang that stands up in defiance of gravity. On his left arm, a fingerless metal bracer that would look right at home in a Hot Topic is slotted with four shrunken pokeballs with spots for two more. All in all...

' _This kid reeks of teenage angst and too much anime.'_

Lee pushes away what he really wants to say and clears his throat. "Honestly? No. I would have preferred to not have all this attention. Since we've been identified now, though, I don't see much reason to hold back."

The teen crosses his arms. "Of course you would have liked to keep the anonymous cool guy thing going. Can't have anyone blowing away your smokescreen, can you?" He shakes his head condescendingly. "That's all people like you have going for them."

Lee's brows meet as he tries to puzzle out what the boy before him means. "Excuse me?"

"You're a privileged, theatrical hack, I can see it even if no one else does," the teen says, his sneer transforming into a full-blown scowl. "You may have dazzled all the dimwits watching this farce of a competition, but _I_ can see you for what you really are," He says before pointing an accusing finger at a startled Vulpix. "Your fox there needed a full ten seconds to charge up that Fire Spin. Looks fancy against no-talent shitters who will wait around to get wiped out, but against a _real_ trainer? You'd be down and out if you stopped for even _two_ seconds."

' _He noticed,'_ Lee feels his eyes narrow as the red-head calls out the failing point of Vulpix's Fire Spin. _'We still can't get the instant, turn-things-to-ash-in-one-touch inferno that she displayed back in Petalburg Woods, but charging it gets closer than a cold cast at the cost of needing to sit still, a death sentence in an even fight. This kid is sharp.'_

Zinnia's short fuse finally hits its limit. She scowls right back at the mouthy teen. "Okay, let's see your achievements, smartass. Can you take down a full-tilt Gym Leader working with a type disadvantage the whole time?"

For some reason, _that_ makes him snarl like a feral animal, he turns to Zinnia with loathing etched into his face. "I could if I was some privileged shit who had everything I needed to do so handed to me!" He roars, making several people around him gasp and back up. "Look at you!" He points at Lee, who freezes. "A grown-ass man covered in scars becoming a trainer this late in life? With a rare pokemon no less? Something tells me you _failed_ as a trainer and ran away here to Hoenn. Then you had some buddy in the League get you a pokemon and a fresh start and a free paycheck so you can fake your way to the top, because all that fucking matters anymore is being buddy-buddy with someone in the Pokemon League! I've seen this before, and I know I'll see it again!"

Lee rocks back at the sheer vitriol the teen spews. On his shoulder, Vulpix openly growls, one of her paws sliding down to his pectoral to give better lift-off for a jump. He places a hand on the paw to hold her in place and mentally shakes off the second-hand rage that bleeds from Vulpix to him. "Kid, look, you're making a lot of assumptions, and I think-"

"I don't give a rattata's ass about what you think," The boy interrupts, red eyes blazing. "Backpedal all you want now that you've been found. I'm going to enjoy cutting you down to size when we battle, assuming you make it that far."

Lee is just barely fast enough to catch a livid Zinnia's wrist when she steps forward with a fist cocked back. Hard act or not, the maroon-haired boy flinches and backs up a step.

"Zinnia, don't." Lee orders, releasing her. She rubs her wrist and meets his eyes. "An assault charge is the last thing you need. We'll settle it in the ring."

" _Good as new, folks!"_ Speakmen's voice rolls over everyone as the ring stops rumbling. Vibrava pops out of the ground and flies back to the lifeguard tower. _"Now, lets get back to it! Show us the next teams!"_

The telescreen highlights the next names.

_ANDRE & BENJAMIN_

_VS_

_KATE & DEE-ANNE_

The teen before Lee and Zinnia snorts. "Looks like I'm up. Watch closely and maybe you'll learn something," he turns and walks toward the ring, everyone parting for him. A few steps in, he stops, and without turning around says; "Oh, and control your bitch, Henson." With that, he keeps walking.

"The fucking audacity of that brat!" Zinnia screams, her fists clenched and face red in fury, marking this as the angriest Lee has ever seen her. "He better hope his ass gets knocked out before we fight him, or so help me there will be _no mercy!_ "

"He was certainly a character..." Lee mutters with a frown, His own flicker of annoyance is overshadowed as he tries to think back and see if he remembers the kid from anywhere. _'He's weirdly familiar. The hair and attitude make me think of Silver, but he lives in Johto and doesn't match looks-wise.'_ Lee crosses his arms as he ruminates on the identity of the rude kid. ' _I don't recall any trainers of note being named Ben or Andre, either.'_

" _First up, both here in lovely Dewford on vacation from Lilycove City, we've got Kate and Dee-Anne!"_ Speakmen introduces, pulling everyone's attention back to the ring. A pair of older ladies in conservative beach-wear and sunhats smile and wave as a few cheers are sent their way.

" _Next up, we've got last year's literal dark horse, and this year's defending Brawl champ, Dewford's reigning Dark-type specialist, Andre!"_

The teen who accosted Lee and Zinnia, now known as Andre, steps into his box as a near equal amount of cheers and boos are sent his way. He smirks and waves mockingly to several of his loudest decriers in particular.

' _A Dark-type specialist?'_ Lee wonders. _'It fits the angsty theme he's got going on. If he won last year...'_

Vulpix flicks an ear, tickling him. Her emotions flicker, mostly being disappointment at how easy their match was.

' _True, I guess it's not a huge accomplishment if most battles are like the ones we've seen so far, but let's watch to be sure he's not just blowing smoke.'_

" _And partnered with Andre, we have Benjamin from our own Dewford!"_

A short, mousy boy in glasses who looks like he wants to be literally anywhere else reluctantly takes a spot at Andre's side.

" _Trainers! Pick your pokemon!"_

From Kate and Dee-Anne's side, both ladies throw in pokeballs without an intro, releasing a Plusle and a Minun. Both pokemon let out delighted squeaks at seeing each other.

Benjamin gulps and tosses his pokeball. "Psyduck, standby!"

The ball pops open midair, shooting down a mass of light that collects and forms a Psyduck. The duck pokemon blinks and looks around. When his eyes fall on Andre, Psyduck quacks and openly quakes, his eyes wide.

"Psyduck, it's okay, we're a team this time..." Psyduck's trainer tries to comfort the duck pokemon without any results. Benjamin wrings his hands, and it's unclear if he's trying to calm himself or his pokemon. "Just take it easy, okay?"

Andre smirks. "Do as Ben says, Psyduck. Hell, Ben. Just sit back and let us take care of this," he laughs, raising his pokeball dramatically before flicking his wrist, sending the ball in.

At the apex of it's flight, the pokeball opens with it's distinct _pop-hiss_ and drops a crouching, quadrupedal form into the sand.

Lee feels his heart skip a beat when the light around the pokemon clears.

Slowly standing from it's crouch, an Absol rises to his full height, slowly opening his blood-red eyes as he does so. The eyes snap to Psyduck, who goes totally still, then to Plusle and Minun, who both stiffen and step closer to each other. In an instant, the ring takes on a fearful air.

A bead of sweat unrelated to the Hoenn summer sun runs down Lee's brow as he looks at the pokemon. His bone-white coat is clean, his red-eyes look almost feral in their intensity, and his claws, bladed tail, and most certainly his bladed horn all glitter with a freshly sharpened edge. _'Absol is much more menacing when you see one up close. I want a knifecat, but at the same time I don't.'_

" _In one corner, we've got Plusle and Minun! A real dynamic duo if there ever was one! In the other, we've got Psyduck, a Water-type with some psychic flair! Last, but most certainly not least, we have Absol, the Disaster pokemon! He was certainly a disaster for all his foes last year, and it doesn't look like thats changed this year. What do you think, Brawly?"_

The Gym Leader's expression is one of carefully maintained neutrality, one that doesn't so much as twitch when Andre stares up at him with narrow eyes. After a few seconds, Brawly raises his microphone. _"I don't know about this one, Josh. It could go either way. Let's watch and see."_

Andre's face twists itself into a rictus of hate.

" _Are both sides ready?"_

The barrier comes down, locking the pokemon in.

"Ready, I guess," Kate says with her partner nodding.

"Just start already!" Andre yells.

" _Begin!"_

"As I said, just sit back, Ben," Andre grunts. "Absol, Night Slash!"

Absol unhurriedly stalks forward, his blade humming with a threatening aura of pulsating purple.

"Plusle," Kate, calls her pokemon, making him perk up.

"Minun," Dee-Anne calls her own pokemon, who perks up as well.

"Thundershock!" They both cry as one.

Plusle and Minun mash their plus and minus marked cheeks together, throwing a wave of sparks, then as one, squeak and shoot a screaming bolt of electricity at Absol, who makes no move to dodge. Then at the absolute last second, with the bolt only feet away, Absol _moves._ He steps out of the way just barely enough to avoid the bolt, which smashes into the barrier with a crackle. He stares at Plusle and Minun with the same placid expression he's had since he was released and keeps walking forward.

"Again!" Both lady trainers order.

Plusle and Minun repeat the same attack with a fierce cry, their whole bodies lighting up in a corona of electricity as they throw an even bigger bolt at Absol.

Just like last time, Absol carelessly sidesteps the bolt with devilish speed, seeming to just teleport several inches out of the way all while never breaking his stride.

Both pokemon opposite of Absol separate and take uneasy steps backward. In the instant they do so, Absol tenses.

The sand explodes under Absol's paws as he charges forward with breakneck speed, barely more than a flicker of ghostly white that reforms as Absol behind the pair. Plusle and Minun only have time to shriek in agony when the Dark-type throws his head and cuts deeply into their backs with Night Slash.

The entire crowd cringes and _Oooooohhhhhh's_ as one.

Another bead of sweat joins the one from earlier on Lee's face. _'The instant they lost face, Absol struck. Definitely a cat-like behavior to have. And that speed! The only pokemon I know that's faster is Corvisquire, and that's only while using Extremespeed...'_ There was no white aura to indicate a move being used when Absol dodged or charged in, which means... _'That's all-natural speed. Holy shit.'_

Plusle hits the sand face down and does not rise, his back slowly weeping red. Only the slow rise and fall of his breathing tells everyone he's alive.

Minun somehow manages to twist midair and land roughly on his paws, his own back sporting a huge laceration. The rodent pokemon pants and shivers, but slowly stands back to his hindlegs, drawing a wave of cheers from the spectators.

" _Absol has no chill, as the kids say,"_ Speakmen speaks up. _"In just one attack, Plusle is down! Minun is left with a tense one on two match... Well, sort of, if Psyduck steps in. Can Dee-Anne and Minun make a monumental comeback?"_

"No, they can't." Andre laughs. "Absol, Night Slash again!"

"Minun, Electro Ball!" Dee-Anne frantically cries. "You can do it, honey!"

Absol doesn't bother playing with this weakened prey, and charges full-tilt. Minun charges up and fires Electro Ball in record time, but Absol ducks the attack instantly and lashes his horn out.

Minun is thrown from his paws again, now with a matching cut on his stomach and unconscious before he even hits the ground. He rolls across the sand, before coming to stop at Psyduck's feet. The duck pokemon looks down at Minun, petrified.

" _One! Two! Three!"_ The horn sounds. _"That's it! Absol and Psyduck are the winners with the fastest match yet! Will last year's champ sweep the competition? Or will he find a challenge and really show his stuff? This Brawl is really heating up!"_

The Dark-type specialist recalls his Absol with a smirk and pats his partner on the shoulder, then he turns and stares right at Lee and Zinnia, his smirk growing.

At Lee's side, Zinnia grits her teeth. "Smug little shit. I'm going to enjoy beating that Absol into the ground."

It was at that time Lee realizes that his team and Andre's are on opposite sides of the brackets, meaning they can only meet in the finals. He runs his hand through his sweaty hair and lets out a tired breath. "Fun. I know some grand power out there is fucking with me. Would a break be too much to ask for?"

Vulpix just noses his cheek and offers some silent comfort.

* * *

The next few matches are a blur, as Lee and Vulpix are too deep in thought forming a strategy to deal with Andre and the matches themselves just aren't very interesting. Once, he looked up when the crowd got especially riled up, but it was just because a Seel's Icy Wind formed an interesting pattern on the barrier. After what seems to be no time at all, Lee and Zinnia are called again.

_ZINNIA & LEE_

_VS_

_LANA & TROY_

" _Lab Trainer Lee and Zinnia, versus Lana and Troy! Trainers! Select your pokemon!"_

Across from Lee and Zinnia, Lana and Troy both share looks, Lana's determined while Troy's is resigned, and pull out one pokeball each before throwing in tandem. For Lana, the large Trapinch she used earlier takes to the field, and Troy's Lotad, still sporting a few electrical burns from his hasty healing session, finds his place next to Trapinch.

Zinnia draws her ball next. "Shelgon! We're not wasting time on this one!" She throws the ball, and from it emerges Shelgon in a flash of light. The encased dragon rumbles from within his shell, making the sand around his feet vibrate.

For a second, Lee debates putting Vulpix in, but figures it better for her to save her energy. That in mind, he makes his decision. "Corvisquire! You're next!" He throws the pokeball high, where it snaps open and materializes Corvisquire, who screeches loud enough to make Trapinch and Lotad flinch.

" _Lana and Try start with Trapinch and Lotad again, but Lee and Zinnia switch it up! What pokemon are those two, anyway?"_

" _Both are powerful mid-stages, Josh."_ Brawly takes over, watching the pair of pokemon with a growing smile. _"Corvisquire will evolve into Corviknight, a huge crow pokemon from Galar, and Shelgon evolves into the dragon pokemon Salamence, the same ace pokemon of Drake, one of Hoenn's most powerful trainers."_ The comparison to the Elite trainer's pokemon draws a wave of exclamation from the crowd. _"Both are serious powerhouses, and I'm frankly not surprised that Lee and Zinnia have them."_

" _Lets see how this shakes things!"_ The barrier comes down. _"Are all trainers ready?! Begin!"_

"Shelgon, Rollout on Trapinch!" Zinnia is the first one to bark.

' _When did Shelgon learn Rollout? I guess that leaves us with Lotad,'_ Lee thinks. "Corvi! Pluck!"

Shelgon pulls his legs into his shell and spins up into a gray blur, kicking up a cloud of sand before rushing at Trapinch.

"Trapinch, catch him with Crunch!" Lana orders.

Trapinch opens his jaws wide and bites down right before Shelgon impacts him, but the dragon pokemon keeps spinning even in Trapinch's hold. The sound of Shelgon's shell grinding against Trapinch's teeth is an awful, ear-splitting din like a circular saw trying to cut into steel, complete with a shower of sparks. It only takes a second for Trapinch's mouth to begin smoking and for the tactical error to show.

Meanwhile, Corvisquire divebombs Lotad too fast for Troy to call an attack, his beak glowing white. Lotad can only try to scramble away from the crow pokemon, but has the breath knocked out of him when Corvisquire lands on his lilypad head.

"Lotad! Use Flail!" Troy desperately calls. "Get him off!"

Lotad begins to glow but loses focus and yelps when Corvisquire digs his talons into the delicate leaf on Lotad's head. Then with a malicious caw, the crow pokemon brings his beak down and harshly bites Lotad again and again, making the pokemon croak and struggle even harder. It only takes three or four bites before the already-damaged Lotad stops struggling and goes limp as the pain sends him into unconsciousness.

Corvisquire stops and hops off of his foe, eyeballing the fallen Lotad with an avian sneer. For half a second, Lee fears Corvisquire will take out his frustration on the already downed Lotad, but despite a few caws and angry flaps of his wings at Lotad, Corvisquire does not strike again.

" _And it looks like Lotad is down!"_ Speakmen cries. _"If Trapinch doesn't make a move soon, it looks like he'll be joining Lotad!"_

Trapinch finally throws his head to the side and spits out Shelgon, who cancels Rollout to reorient himself, but the damage has already been done. Trapinch groans and shakes his head, the edges of his teeth all worn down and dulled. Shelgon, meanwhile, only has scratches to show for the trouble.

As the knocked out Lotad is recalled, Zinnia keeps the offensive going. "Shelgon! Dragon Pulse!"

"Corvi, Swift!" Lee adds in.

Shelgon's barely visible mouth glows blue with whirling energy, and Corvisquire launches himself up into the air with his wings shining gold. Both pokemon cry and launch their attacks.

"Trapinch, Dig now!" Lana screams.

The antlion pokemon tries to dig underground, but with his teeth raw and painful, he can't move the sand in time and is hit by the whirling beam of dragon energy, then by a mammoth barrage of star-shaped rays, both attacks kicking up earth-rocking explosions. When the resulting plume of sand falls back to the ground, Trapinch is partially buried and unmoving. After several seconds, the match horn sounds.

" _Two knockouts within seconds of each other! Corvisquire and Shelgon's fury knows no bounds! Lee and Zinnia advance to the semifinals!"_ The words are met with cheering and a few more signs being held aloft.

Lana recalls her pokemon and practically falls into Troy's arms in tears. The man in turn glares at Lee and Zinnia.

Lee can only shrug and mouth 'Sorry'. On his shoulder, Vulpix just shakes her head.

The next match, Andre's, is a repeat of his last one. The boy's Absol makes short work of the Cacna and Rosalia he faces, both falling to a single, savage Night Slash despite their desperate attempts to keep some distance between themselves and the Dark-type. Absol simply dodges every projectile with ease and cuts them down with an instant burst of speed while Benjamin's Psyduck stands still and just stares at his teammate in terror.

After that, the other matches aren't much to talk about. One younger trainer boasted about having a Gyrados, but then stuttered and declined to use it, if he had one at all. His team lost. Eventually, the matches loop back to Zinnia and Lee for the semifinals.

_AMIR & DON_

_VS_

_ZINNIA & LEE_

" _It's time for the semifinals! We've had a wonderful tournament now, and it's getting down to the wire! Amir and Don with just Dewott and Swellow have made quick work of their matches so far, but how will they fare against a Lab Trainer and an apparent dragon tamer? For the semifinals, it'll be two pokemon per trainer!"_

As they take to the ring, Lee turns to Zinnia. "Hey, this one we should probably plan for. These two aren't pushovers."

Zinnia nibbles on her lower lip. "Think they'll open with Dewott and Swellow again?"

Lee glances at the pair of young trainers. Amir has a cocky smirk on his face, while Don's is more guarded, but certainly not fearful. "Yeah. Dewott and Swellow have only taken minor hits so far, so they'll use them to open. They might even be expecting us to use pokemon we've already used in anticipation of them using _different_ pokemon to catch us in a double fake-out. I'll use Treecko for Dewott if you want to handle Swellow."

The dragon tamer grins and palms a pokeball. "Swablu it is, then."

" _Trainers! Make your first selection!"_

Everyone draws their hands back, then at once, throws.

On Amir and Don's side, Dewott and Swellow materialize in flashes of light as expected. Dewott makes a show of drawing his scalchops and dropping into a fighting stance while Swellow just hovers with a keen eye watching the field.

Treecko and Swablu form from their own flashes of light. Treecko stands with his forearms crossed and eyes closed, dismissing his opponents without even looking at them. Swablu, meanwhile, looks at Swellow and takes to the air with a chirp.

" _It's Treecko and Swablu versus Dewott and Swellow! Are all the trainers ready?"_ Again, the barrier falls and traps the pokemon inside.

"Ready!" Amir and Don respond at once.

"Ready!" Zinnia and Lee mirror their reply.

" _Begin!"_

"Treecko, Quick Attack!"

"Swablu! Dragon Pulse!

"Dewott, intercept Treecko with Slash!"

"Swellow! Use Agility to dodge!"

All the pokemon explode into action at once.

Treecko blurs forward, zig-zagging rapidly to try and throw off Dewott, who watches the green blur with caution. The instant Treecko is close enough, Dewott whirls in a full circle with the edges of his left shell whistling through the air right at Treecko's unprotected face.

The wood gecko catches Dewott's wrist before the shell can slice into his muzzle and lashes out with a kick, catching Dewott in the stomach and drawing a grunt from the otter pokemon as he folds slightly. Dewott does not give the opportunity for a second attack and rips his wrist from Treecko's hold, spinning on a single paw and sending his own kick towards Treecko, who narrowly backsteps the blow.

Dewott growls and rushes forward, slashing furiously in a flowing dance that gives Treecko no opening for a counter, forcing him to backpedal with a frown. Once, Dewott surges just a little faster, giving Treecko a shallow cut across his forearm. Treecko scowls in reply and glows white with Quick Attack, stepping dangerously into Dewott's wild attacks and weaving around one, two, three, four slashes to slam an elbow into Dewott's face, making him recoil and clutch his snout. Dewott isn't stunned for long and throws one of his shells, cutting into Treecko's side.

"Treecko! Keep him at arm's length and use Absorb! He'll tire before you do!" Lee calls, too engrossed in the melee to do more than glance at Swablu and Swellow, who are in a furious mid-air dogfight.

Swablu screeches when she's struck with Swellow's blindingly fast Aerial Ace and fires off a retaliatory Dragon Pulse that clips Swellow, burning a thin furrow into his side. The larger bird rapidly circles around as Swablu struggles to keep him in her line of sight.

"Swellow, use Aerial Ace again!"

"Fuck that! Swablu! Hyper Voice!" Zinnia cries.

Lee's eyes widen as Swablu sucks in a deep breath that inflates her small body. "Treecko! Retreat and cover your ears!"

Treecko wastes no time breaking away from Dewott, but not before hitting the Water-type with a split-second Absorb, making Dewott cringe and step back. In a flash, Treecko glows white and returns to Lee's side of the field, tightly covering his ears.

Swablu's beak opens and unleashes an auditory hell.

The whole dome rattles and the sand jumps and dances from the soundwaves. Even with the barrier taking the worst of the edge off, Lee still feels a twinge of phantom pain from Vulpix as she winces and folds her ears back. Many of the spectators back up, their own ears covered.

Much like Ash's Taillow did, the awful noise freezes Swellow midair and wracks the bird with pain, both from the hearing damage and his hollow bones being rattled by the violently vibrating air. Swellow can't even keep his wings flapping and falls harshly to the ground where he writhes in abject agony.

Dewott is hit as well, covering his ears with his mouth open in a scream that Swablu overshadows with ease. The otter sways and falls to his knees

Treecko, even behind Swablu and with ample time to prepare, grits his teeth.

After what seems like an eternity that was probably only a few seconds, Swablu runs out of breath and pants.

Swellow goes limp, his eyes closing as he fades into blissful unconsciousness.

Dewott, meanwhile, stands shakily and picks his shells up, looking between Swablu and Treecko with unfocused eyes.

" _What a heinous attack! It downed Swellow with ease! I wouldn't be surprised if people on the other side of the island heard that!"_

"Treecko, put him out of his misery," Lee rubs an ear with a frown. "Quick Attack into Pound!"

The wood gecko glows white once more and flies over the sand at Dewott, who brings his shells up in a shaky defense.

"Dewott, Detect!" the now dismayed Amir cries, only for his pokemon to have no reaction.

'His eardrums are probably blown out. Sorry about Zinnia, kid.'

Before the otter can raise his defense, Treecko slips into his now open guard and strikes out with his heavy tail, hitting Dewott in the temple throwing him end over end. The Water-type tumbles to a stop in the sand, knocked out.

" _And Dewott is knocked out! Both Don and Amir need to select new pokemon!"_

Both teens recall their pokemon slowly. Amir clenches the ball in his hand when Dewott is safely returned and Don murmurs something to Swellow's pokeball too quiet to hear. Don says something to Amir, who looks up. The boys then huddle, talking to each other near soundlessly.

Lee turns to Zinnia with an unamused frown. "Care to warn me next time you try to deafen my pokemon?" He asks, rubbing Vulpix's aching ears.

Zinnia crosses her arms under her bust and raises a brow. "What? And give away the element of surprise?"

"We, your teammates, stop being useful if my pokemon can't hear a word I'm saying."

The draconid rolls her eyes. "Treecko lived. It's fine."

Lee just sighs and shakes his head.

After about ten more seconds, their opponents break their huddle. Don steps forward and clears his throat. "Hey, proctor, commentator guy? We're cutting our losses. Dewott and Swellow were our best pokemon. We forfeit."

The crowd jeers and boos, making Don flinch and Amir just crosses his arms with a dour look upon his face.

" _Amir and Don concede defeat!"_ Speakmen recounts. _"Lee and Zinnia are our first finalists!"_

" _There is no shame in knowing when you're outmatched and bowing out gracefully,"_ Brawly quickly jumps to the rescue of the boys, instantly quieting much of the booing. _"Amir and Don went far into the Brawl and both are great trainers with great pokemon. Lets hear it for them, everyone!"_

The crowd does a 180 and cheers erupt from everyone... Or almost everyone. From his place in the crowd beside his partner Benjamin, Lee sees Andre's face fall into a deep scowl as he stares up at Brawly with something akin to revulsion.

" _And we've moving right along! Lets get the next match underway!"_

The telescreen lights up, moving down to the next backet.

_CECIL & ALEX_

_VS_

_ANDRE & BENJAMIN_

Lee's eyes turn to the trainers named Cecil and Alex. Cecil is almost painfully average, being a man in his twenties or so with a build much like Lee's own. His partner, Alex, is a fair bit shorter and slimmer, almost feminine in his appearance. If not for his lack of shirt paired with his swimming trunks, Lee might have mistaken him for a woman. Both did well in their matches, their Seel and Electrike making a surprisingly good team.

Cecil raises his hand as he and Alex approach, both stopping short of the ring's trainer box with anxious expressions. "Uh... Look, we hate to be buzzkills and all, but we're going to forfeit too." His words draw a collective sound of disappointment and several boos from the watching people.

"We... just don't want our pokemon torn up that bad, is all..." Alex adds in a small voice, unable to meet anyone's eyes and instead staring at the sand.

Lee clicks his tongue and looks over to Zinnia, who gives him a manic smile in return. He looks away from her and to the vixen on his shoulder, who shakes her head in tandem with his.

" _Cecil and Alex drop out when faced with last year's champ, advancing Andre and Benjamin to the finals! This is sure to be Brawl on the Beach's best match ever! We'll be taking a short break to get ready, so grab your drinks and snack now!"_

The telescreen flashes one final time.

_ZINNIA & LEE_

_VS_

_ANDRE & BENJAMIN_


	19. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> A big thanks to NurseBold, Nicolas H, Max D, and Tim M for being patrons.
> 
> And an extra big thanks to Spartanstoryteller for being a special, high-level patron.
> 
> Want to support me? See https://www.patreon.com/fuggmann

* * *

_ZINNIA & LEE_

_VS_

_ANDRE & BENJAMIN_

The crowd around the makeshift ring begins to disperse, most heading to the various food stands around the beach before the final match. On the other side of the ring, Andre is content to stand with his arms crossed as his foot taps the sandy ground impatiently. At his side, Benjamin just twiddles his fingers and looks at the ground.

Lee turns to Zinnia, starting slightly when he sees her actually shivering in anticipation. Her almost crazed ruby eyes are locked with Andre's arrogant maroon in a silent staring match.

Lee shakes his head. "Zinnia, we need to talk before this match,"

With great reluctance, she turns away from the Dark-type specialist to look at Lee, her frown from earlier returning. "About what?"

"About how to deal with that Absol and any other pokemon he has," Lee begins, putting a hand on her shoulder and guiding the dragon tamer into turning to try and hide their conversation. "That Absol's speed is insanity. Even if his partner just stands around, this is going to be a tough one and we need to work together if we're going to win this."

Zinnia just laughs. "Sure thing. Wipe the floor with his partner and I'll have Shelgon trash the Absol. They aren't known for taking hits. Easy."

' _Really?'_

Lee feels his lips pull downward. "Don't blow me off. Andre's pokemon is as quick as Corvisquire when he's using Extremespeed and downed all his opponents in one or two hits. If Andre's other pokemon are half as strong, or god forbid, even better, then we might be toast. There's no consolation prize, so that money you want is gone if we lose."

That seems to make Zinnia stop and think for a moment. After a long few seconds, she says; "Fine, I guess. I still think you're worrying too much. What's your plan? I doubt he's going to open with Absol."

"Probably not," Lee agrees. "We want to remove Benjamin from the equation as quickly as possible so he can't give them a come-from-behind victory, which means stalling Andre to focus him down. It's kind of a dick move, but love and war and all that."

Zinnia nods. "Exactly what I was saying. If you take down his pokemon, I'll have Swablu play keep-away with the brat's pokemon and then we can crush him."

"And then when Absol comes out, we need to play it smart," Lee stresses. "I don't know if we get any substitutions or not, so we'll need to wear him down with anything we have. Burns, poison, paralysis, confusion, whatever we've got to weaken him for when Shelgon or Vulpix take the stage to fight him," he says, raising a hand to pet the vixen on his shoulder.

" _And we're back, folks!"_ Speakmen cries, snapping Lee and Zinnia from their huddle. Everyone quickly begins to gather around the ring for prime viewing spots as the commentator takes a breath. _"In the red corner, we've got Hoenn Lab Trainer Lee Henson and the lovely Zinnia Draconid, who have taken the Brawl by storm and made it all the way to the finals! In the blue corner, We've got Dewford's bad boy defending champ Andre and final four finisher from last year Benjamin! Let's hear it for them, everyone!"_

The cheers are so loud that echo off the hotels and beach houses lining the beachfront. Out in the ocean, a lone Dewgong pokes its head out of the water to see the commotion.

Andre smirks and steps up to his side of the ring, Benjamin following demurely at his heels.

With a deep breath, Lee steps forward into the red box with Zinnia at his side. "Remember the plan. I'm starting with Treecko," he says quickly, getting a nod from Zinnia.

" _This'll be a three on three match with only one sub allowed per trainer,"_ Brawly takes over, gazing down at Andre, who scoffs at him. _"Once one side is out of pokemon, the other side will be our winners. Trainers, select your first pokemon!"_

As one, Lee, Zinnia, Andre, and Benjamin toss their pokeballs forward.

On the red side, Treecko and Swablu take form. Swablu lets out a tweet and rises into the air as Treecko rolls a shoulder and settles into an uncaring stance.

Across from them, Benjamin's Psyduck takes the sandy field as a large Mightyena emerges from Andre's ball. The dark canine pokemon lets a bone-rattling growl roll from his throat and stares down both Treecko and Swablu, ignoring the nervous Psyduck at his side.

Treecko's eyes narrow as he takes in Mightyena, but he keeps his loose stance rather than squaring up, making Mightyena draw back his lips in a dagger-toothed snarl.

' _Shit, I was hoping Andre focused solely on his Absol and left his other pokemon weak,'_ Lee sighs. The Mightyena's teeth are all pearly white and his coat is sleek and shiny, all hallmarks of being well-raised. At least Andre raises his pokemon well. _'I was hoping a little too hard, I suppose.'_

" _It's Treecko and Swablu versus Psyduck and Mightyena!"_ Speakmen announces. A second later, Hypno's barrier comes down, trapping all 4 pokemon inside. _"Get ready! In three, two, one...!"_

Swablu puffs herself up.

Treecko brings his forearms up in a guard.

Mightyena lowers his body with a growl _._

Psyduck cowers.

" _Begin!"_

"Treecko! Focus down Psyduck! Hit and run with Absorb!" Lee cries.

Zinnia and Andre shout orders at the same time Lee does, but their words get mixed up and are lost to Lee. Their pokemon get the message through.

As one, Treecko, Swablu, and Mightyena explode into action.

Treecko glows white in a Quick Attack and blasts forward at the petrified Psyduck, only to abort his charge and leap over Mightyena, who crosses the distance between them in a single, powerful bound.

Mightyena's flame-coated fangs close around nothing, drawing a growl from him. The canine pokemon turns, only to leap back as to not be hit by Swablu's Take Down.

"Keep going, Treecko!" Lee instructs, feeling his heart begin to race.

"Fire Fang!" Andre replies from across the field, his face set into a smirk. "Take out Treecko!"

Mightyena's mouth bursts into brilliant orange flames, his fangs glowing a searing orange a shade brighter than the flames. He charges Treecko again, only to stop with a skid as Swablu nearly bowls him over again.

"Bitch!" Andre yells, his smirk falling into a scowl. "Fine. You wanna go first? Mightyena, Thunder Fang on Swablu! Roast that bird!"

Zinnia laughs. "Good luck! Swablu! Circle around and use Dragon Pulse!"

Treecko isn't idle as Andre and Zinnia issue new orders and races to the still frozen Psyduck, kicking up plumes of sand with each step.

"P-Psyduck, use Confusion! Quick!" Benjamin cries, wringing his hands as he does so. "He's going to get you!"

The duck pokemon's fearful eyes glow blue, but before any attack can be fired off, Treecko is before him. The wood gecko pokemon twirls, throwing his tail into Psyduck's stomach and doubling poor duck over with a sputter. Treecko then quickly slides behind Psyduck and puts his arms around Psyduck's neck in a chokehold. The psychic duck can only struggle in Treecko's grip before crying out as his life force is stolen by Treecko's Absorb.

' _Where did he learn to do a chokehold?'_ Lee silently asks the fox on his shoulder, only to get the telepathic equivalent of a shrug from her.

"Psyduck! Throw him off now!" Benjamin desperately orders. "You can't let him do this!"

"Tighten your hold, Treecko! Don't let him focus!" Lee orders right back.

Psyduck's struggles increase even as his energy is stolen from him. The duck's eyes glow again, but he gags and lets the glow fade when Treecko's arms strain against his neck and cut off more of his windpipe. The entire time, Absorb keeps sapping away at Psyduck.

Lee takes the spare second to look over at Swablu and Mightyena, silently kicking himself for focusing too much on Treecko.

"Dragon Pulse!"

"Dark Pulse!"

Swablu's whirling ray of Dragon energy crashes against Mightyena's dark beam, both meeting in a stalemate for a second before Dark Pulse begins to push Dragon Pulse back. Mightyena roars below Swablu, more inky blackness pouring from his throat as Dark Pulse blasts through Dragon Pulse, ripping the attack into wispy blue scraps

Swablu trills in alarm and dives, Dark Pulse missing her by inches. The black column of energy slams into the barrier like a runaway truck, rattling the whole thing and drawing a wince from Speakmen's Hypno up in the guard tower.

' _Swablu isn't going to be able to keep this up,'_ Lee grimly realizes, his eyes zeroing in on the rapid rise and fall of Swablu's chest. _'Mightyena is too strong. We need to finish with Ben as soon as possible.'_

He turns back just in time to watch Psyduck's struggles weaken to nothing, the duck pokemon going limp in Treecko's hold. Treecko releases his foe, letting him fall to the sand with a soft _thump._

" _Psyduck is the first to go down!"_ Speakmen calls, drawing a wave of cheers from the spectators. _"What happened to his robust performance from last year? Oh well. Benjamin! Select a new pokemon!"_

The bespectacled boy sighs and recalls his downed Psyduck through a little hole in the barrier, sucking the pokemon into the safety of his pokeball in a flash of red light. He murmurs something too quiet to be heard to the ball before placing it on his belt. After a moment of indecision, he grabs another from his belt and throws it, a small hole appearing in the barrier to let the ball in.

With a pop, the ball opens and flies a full-grown Tropius. The great sauropod pokemon raises it's neck to it's full seven foot height and stares down at Treecko. It's gaze strays over to Andre for a moment, an expression Lee cannot place briefly passing by it's face.

" _And it looks like Benjamin is done playing around! His ace pokemon Tropius has taken to the field! Can this Grass-type titan be toppled?"_

"Tropius! Use Growth!" Benjamin calls.

Tropius growls and unfurls his leafy wings, the appendages shining in the sunlight. A second later, the muscles under Tropius' skin ripple and flex, bulging and turning the already intimidating pokemon into a wall of sharply defined muscle. He stares down at Treecko, who almost takes a step back as he chews anxiously on his twig.

' _I can't lose Treecko this early. He can't fight Tropius with is current options,'_ Lee bites his lip and glances at Swablu and Mightyena for a split second, just in time to watch Swablu shriek and hastily flit away as she's clipped by one of Mightyena's electrified fangs. _'Swablu needs help too. Damn. Looks like I'm burning my only sub.'_

"Ref! I'm subbing!" Lee yells up to Speakmen as he draws Treecko's ball. A second later, a hole opens in the dome and lets Lee recall a disgruntled Treecko back to his ball.

" _Looks like Lee is substituting his pokemon!_ _Who will he pick to replace Treecko?"_

The zoologist ignores the commentator in favor of whispering to Treecko's ball, which shakes in obvious agitation. "I know, pal, but sometimes you gotta retreat from a battle to win the war," he says gently. "You'll get your time to shine. I promise."

The ball goes still, so Lee shrinks it and reaches into his pocket for Corvisquire's ball. With a deep breath, he throws it in, and out comes Corvisquire with a flash of light and a screech to announce himself.

" _Corvisquire is back! It's beak and brain versus bulk and brawn!"_

The raven pokemon sizes up Tropius only to laugh in his scratchy, throaty voice, making the much larger pokemon frown.

"Don't take him lightly, Corvi!" Lee orders, making the raven pokemon sober up just the slightest amount. "In the air! Hone Claws!

Corvisquire takes to the skies and Tropius is quick to fly upward at him without any prompting from Benjamin.

"Tropius! Stop him with Razor Wind!" Ben orders.

Tropius bellows and flings his front set of wings forward, throwing near-invisible scythes of wind that scream towards Corvisquire.

Corvisquire rolls out of the way agilely, grinding his talons together all the while. As he raises his talons to sharpen his beak, he smirks a vile smirk and waits as Tropius barrels towards him, then drags his claws down his steely beak, drawing sparks that he kicks into the eyes of the passing Tropius.

The large pokemon bellows in pain and screws his eyes shut, throwing his head to try and clear his eyes and he halts and hovers in place.

Lee can't take the time to appreciate just how much of _an asshole_ his pokemon is as he sees Swablu's losing battle in the corner of his eye. "Corvi! Knock Tropius towards Mightyena with Steel Wing!"

"H-Headbutt! Don't let him hit you!" Ben cries, his whole face a rictus of panic.

The bird happily complies and darts up high before coming down like a rocket onto Tropius' back, slamming his shimmering wings into the wrists of Tropius' own wings with a sound like an axe meeting a tree.

Tropius bellows again and starts to fall, but not before whipping his long neck around and driving his head into Corvisquire like a wrecking ball. The raven can only gasp and is thrown off his opponent's back like a missile.

" _What a dirty trick from Corvisquire! But it didn't go unpunished!"_

Corvisquire's wings shoot out and arrest his momentum before he hits the wall of the barrier, letting him hover mid-air as he takes harsh breaths of air into his abused body. His face slowly falls into a furious scowl.

Tropius, meanwhile, comes down like a meteor at Mightyena as Swablu flies up and makes herself scarce at Zinnia's yelled order, making Andre's eyes widen.

"Mightyena, Detect!" Andre roars. "Then nail Swablu!"

The wolf pokemon's red eyes glimmer with clarity as Tropius falls towards him. Then at the last second, he leaps, twisting his whole body around in an unnatural way, briefly standing on the still falling Tropius as he does so. Then with a tense of his rear legs, Mightyena uses Tropius as a springboard, launching himself right at a wide-eyed Swablu!

Swablu can only screech as electrified fangs wrap around her, electrocuting her as Mightyena lands upon the ground paws-first and shakes her like a ragdoll.

"Swablu!" Zinnia screams, horror written on her face.

After a long second, Mightyena lets the mauled and burned bird go with a swing of his neck, throwing her across the field where she lays still, shuddering as she draws in labored breath.

Tropius, meanwhile, crashes into the sand with a thunderous _bang!_ Sand is thrown everywhere, obscuring the pokemon for a few seconds. As the last of the sand falls, everyone sees the Grass-type slowly rising to his feet, his whole form radiating scorn for the raven pokemon above him.

" _Swablu is down! Both teams have lost their first pokemon! Mightyena is barely scratched and took out Swablu in one decisive blow! Meanwhile, Corvisquire and Tropius both have wounds to show in their bout. What will Zinnia's next pokemon be?"_

With gritted teeth, Zinnia recalls her wounded pokemon to her ball. Once Swablu is back on Zinnia's belt, her hand flies to Shelgon's ball.

"Zinnia, wait!"

The dragon tamer turns to Lee with a snarl. "Wait? For what?! I'm going to pound that prick into the ground!" She growls, turning to Andre and Ben.

The first boy has the gall to smile at them, and the second one just keeps his expression in a very forced neutral. Ben adjusts his glasses and looks away.

"Remember the plan," Lee insists. "We need to save Shelgon and Vulpix for last. They need to work together to take down Absol."

"Fuck your plan!" Zinnia replies. She almost tears Shelgon's ball off her belt and throws it before Lee can protest further.

In a flash, Shelgon is once again on the field. The Dragon pokemon grumbles and locks eyes with Mightyena, whose hackles rise.

" _Stalwart Shelgon takes to the field! Have the tables turned?"_

' _Dammit all, Zinnia.'_ Lee sighs, prompting Vulpix to nose his cheek with a quiet whine in her chest.

With the new pokemon on the field, everyone begins moving again, starting with Mightyena.

"Mightyena, Ice Fang!" Andre laughs.

"Shelgon, Smokescreen!" Zinnia counters.

Mightyena's mouth crusts over with a layer of glittering ice too late, as Shelgon blows out a cloud of oily smoke and obscures himself. His squat form vanishes in the cloud of smoke.

The wolf pokemon raises his nose and takes a few sniffs of the air, probably searching for Shelgon, but growls and backs up warily as the smoke rolls closer to him.

Lee's focus is pulled from Shelgon and Mightyena as Tropius grows and rises back into the air, the rear leaf on his left side noticeably limp.

Across the field, Ben gulps and goes on the offensive. "Tropius, Magical Leaf!"

"Corvi! Swift!" Lee cries out in reply.

Tropius swipes a broad, leafy wing forward, throwing a barrage of beautiful rainbow leaves that home in on Corvisquire as if they have a mind of their own.

Corvisquire responds with a screech and throws his gold-coated wings forward, sending out a mammoth wave of shining stars that fly into the Magical Leaves.

The stars and leaves meet with a staccato of pops and explosions, each collision blowing up in a brillant shower of rainbow sparks that draws pointed fingers and cheers from the watching people.

Of the few Magical Leaves that survive Swift, Corvisquire neatly dodges each one a second before impact, and although they all turn to come back at him, all of them lose power and fade before they can strike again.

Tropius isn't so lucky, his bulk and injured wings proving too much to make last minute flight adjustments. The remaining handful of Swift stars explodes against his thick hide, leaving scuffs and burns. To his credit, Tropius barely even winces.

Lee hazards a look to Mightyena and Shelgon just in time to hear the dull _thunk_ of a rattled skull and see a dazed Mightyena thrown from Shelgon's smokescreen. The skin of the wolf pokemon's head is split open from an impact, letting red leak from the wound as he stands on shaky legs.

The smoke begins to fade, revealing Shelgon with a frost-crusted bite mark on his shell. The dragon stalks forward, barely noticing his own wound.

"Shelgon, use Dragon Pulse!" Zinnia laughs, her bloodthirsty grin on full-blast.

"Dark Pulse! Overpower Shelgon!" Andre growls.

Both pokemon open their mouths and charge their attacks. A writhing ball of black and purple forms in Mightyena's maw as Shelgon's Dragon Pulse builds in a flurry of raging blue. Then as one, both pokemon roar and fire.

Dark Pulse and Dragon Pulse meet once again, but unlike with Swablu, Dragon Pulse rapidly begins to overpower Dark Pulse without a struggle. Just before Dark Pulse fails, Mightyena snarls and leaps away, but catches Dragon Pulse to his side, burning a furrow into his fur.

Glad that Zinnia is holding off Mightyena, Lee turns his attention back to his battle.

"Tropius! Synthesis!" Ben calls, his face falling further and further into frantic desperation the longer the match goes.

' _Shit! No!'_ Lee's eyes widen. "Corvi! Taunt!"

Tropius flares his leafy wings out, but not before Corvisquire dives at him, giving the sauropod pokemon a peck to his skull before fluttering away, cawing his scratchy laugh the entire time.

The golden glow building around Tropius dies before much, if any damage can be repaired. With a bellow, Tropius flies headfirst at Corvisquire, making Benjamin claw at this hair in frustration below. "Tropius! Snap out of it!" The boy pleads.

Tropius acts as if he hears nothing and flings a leafy wing at the fleeing Corvisquire, launching another wave of Magical Leaf easily twice as large as the last one.

Corvisquire rolls and weaves through the leafy projectiles, a few of them scraping across his ferrous feathers and one even cutting into his side when it corrects its course more than expected. The raven lets out a furious screech, more angry than hurt by the injury, then sharply turns to face the still enraged Tropius.

"Get behind him and use Pluck on his wings! Ground him!" Lee calls up to his pokemon.

"Tropius, please listen to me!" Ben clenches his fists. "Don't let him do it!"

Corvisquire beelines for Tropius, then deftly barrel rolls out of the way of a Headbutt to find himself behind the huge pokemon. The bird lands on the back of his foe and digs his talons in before savagely biting at the wrists of Tropius' wings, forcing a sharp note of pain from his throat. Corvisquire can only get a few bites in before Tropius whips his neck around and bites a surprised Corvisquire, tearing the bird away from his wings and flinging him into the nearby wall of the barrier back-first.

Corvisquire coughs as the wind is knocked out of him for the second time today but quickly flares his wings to maintain a hover. He lets out a wheezy, hacking laugh as Tropus' injured wings struggle to keep the pokemon aloft, forcing him to drop into a rough landing that vibrates the ground.

Lee lets out a breath, silently marveling at how this battle is making his heart race like the battle with Roxanne did. "Corvi, don't let up! Hit and run from the rear with Pluck!"

Corvisquire obliges with a cruel cry.

Devoid of his mobility, Tropius can only struggle as Corvisquire makes several diving-bombing passes at him, each pass leaving the sauropod with another wound that saps at his stamina as his own attacks miss the raven pokemon. Corvisquire is clipped several times by Magical Leaf, but the damage is little more than paper cuts.

"C'mon Tropius! Not like this!" Ben cries, looking perilously close to tears. "Slow Corvisquire down with Sweet Scent!"

Tropius waves his head around as he turns in place to keep Corvisquire in sight, a pink cloud of mist ejecting from the fruit dangling around his neck.

The bird pokemon barrels through the mist, slowing almost none as he digs his beak into his foe's side, making another bloody gouge in his hide. It's only as Corvisquire rises again does he slow down, his avian face slowly easing into something resembling neutrality.

"Shake it off, Corvi!" Lee yells. "He's playing with your head! Don't let him make a fool of you!"

At the words _'make a fool of you'_ Corvisquire shakes his head and clears his thoughts, his angry glower returning with twice the potency. His screech of rage makes Tropius flinch and even draws the eyes of Andre's battered Mighyena before a Dragon Pulse throws him from his feet.

' _Tropius is a tough bastard,'_ Lee thinks, looking at all the wounds littering his body, wounds inflicted with a super-effective move. _'Making Corvisquire lose face before an audience was his last mistake, though.'_

And indeed, Corvisquire looks fit to be tied. His beady eyes glitter with hate at the mere suggestion that he was nearly played.

"Corvisquire, finish him off with Extremespeed," Lee orders.

The raven spreads his wings wide and lets out a loud, haunting cry before flickering out of existence with a loud _crack_ of displaced air.

Tropius can barely brace himself before Corvisquire rams into his side like a tank shell, crossing the distance between them in a single heartbeat.

The sauropod can't even vocalize his pain before he's completely lifted off his feet, carried along by Corvisquire's sheer momentum...

...Right at Mightyena.

"Mightyena, Detect!"

The canine pokemon's eyes widen as his trainer's order comes a second too late to process. Tropius strikes the wolf with a bone-rattling impact, drawing a yelp from him.

Corvisquire's wings snap open and halts his flight as Tropius and Mightyena roll to a stop in a heap. Tropius is still for a moment before slowly struggling to his feet, only to falter and fall back to the ground as consciousness leaves him.

Mightyena, on the other hand, rises and stands on wobbly paws, his teeth gritted in a growl. The canine is coated in burns and bruises with the wound on his head still slowly bleeding. He whips his head to the side to flick away blood that trails too close to an eye. He looks as if a stiff breeze will knock him over.

Andre turns to Benjamin with a fury filled face. "Can you at least _try_ to be useful?!" He screams at the mousy boy, who just flinches and steps away.

" _What a move! Corvisquire tips the scales into the red team's favor in a single brutal attack!"_ Speakmen's excitement amps up the audience even more.

" _Extremespeed, huh?"_ Brawly chimes in, looking at Corvisquire. _"That's a powerful move, one thats takes Quick Attack to its highest, most dangerous level. That's a rarity to see on a pokemon that isn't fully evolved."_

" _Indeed it is!"_ Speakmen agrees easily, his head nodding along. _"Tropius is down! Benjamin! Please select your final pokemon!"_

With great reluctance, the smaller boy on the blue side recalls his abused Tropius and draws his final pokeball. He holds it between both hands in what seems to be a prayer before tossing it into the ring.

The pokeball pops open and out floats a purple ball of gas that sprouts a pair of large eyes and a fanged grin. The eyes take in Corvisquire, Shelgon, then Mightyena. Below the eyes, the fanged grin falls into a frown.

" _It looks like Ben's last pokemon is Gastly! Does this ghost have the tricks in his non-existent sleeve needed to balance things out?"_

Across the field, Andre grabs his partner's arm and pulls him closer, harshly whispering something into his ear. Ben grimaces but slowly nods.

"Shelgon! Rollout! Finish Mightyena off!" Zinnia starts the battle again, pointing to the dark canine.

Shelgon growls and pulls his legs into his battered shell before rolling at Mightyena like a bloodthirsty pinball.

"Mightyena, Ice Fang. Give it your all." Andre quietly orders, his arms crossed.

Mightyena's face tightens into a grim parody of a smile as his teeth are once again coated in ice, then without dodging, he charges headfirst at Shelgon.

The ice-encrusted teeth sink into the whirling shell pokemon, drawing deep, harsh lines in the metallic armor before Mightyena is swept under the Rollout and battered one last time.

There is the cringe-inducing _crack_ of a broken bone as Shelgon bowls over Mightyena, and the Dark-type does not stand afterward, finally succumbing to his numerous injuries and falling unconscious in the sand. Shelgon does an about-face and cancels Rollout, coming to a stop and showing everyone the new gashes in his chewed-up shell.

" _Mightyena is out! Shelgon proved to be just a little too much after Swablu wore Mightyena down! What pokemon will Andre call next?_

With a sigh, Andre produces Mightyena's pokeball and recalls the wolf in a flash of red.

Lee looks away from his partner's battle at Vulpix's mental prompting, noticing Ben had stopped to watch Mightyena fall as well. For a moment, he debates calling an attack and the boy is unaware, but... "Hey! The battle isn't paused or anything!" Lee warns, making Benjamin jump. "Corvisquire! Steel Wing!"

The raven shrieks and divebombs Gastly, his wings shining with a sharp, metallic sheen.

"Gastly, out of the way!" Ben cries. "You can't get hit! Not now!"

The ghost pokemon moans and partially dematerializes, letting a startled Corvisquire crash painfully into the sand when he passes right through the ghost.

"What?!" Lee exclaims aloud, his jaw-dropping. _'What the fuck? Ghost pokemon can just do that?'_

" _And Andre's next pokemon is Murkrow! This one is a new addition we didn't see last year!"_

Lee glances over, and sure enough, a little black crow with a witch-hat plume of feathers now hovers on the other side of the field.

"Now, Gastly..." Ben lets out a resigned sigh. "Use Curse on Shelgon."

Gastly grimaces as a malicious red aura bursts into life around both he and Shelgon, who roars in agony and seizes on his feet.

"Oh no..." Lee hears Zinnia whisper. In the corner of his eye, he can see her tanned face paling.

"Corvi, stop him!" Lee orders. "Extremespeed into Steel Wing!"

The raven pulls himself from the sand and glares up at the ghost above him. The instant his form begins to flicker, Ben gives Gastly one last order. "Gastly, Destiny Bond!"

Lee blanks out at what he hears save for one word. _'Fuck.'_

The ghost's face settles into acceptance as Curse fades, and an instant later he's explosively driven into the sand by Steel Wing, unconscious with a rend running down his ethereal form.

Corvisquire can barely croon over his victory before arcs of violet energy erupt from his being, drawing a horrid, nails-on-chalkboard scream from his throat. The bird writhes and thrashes, desperately trying to escape the torture he's subjected to, even flying up and crashing into the barrier only to fall again. After only a few seconds that seems like hours to Lee, Corvisquire finally gives up and faints, the arcs of violet fading as he falls to the sand and goes still.

" _Ohhhh no! Gastly lays a Curse on Shelgon and takes down Corvisquire in a dramatic double-KO! It's all up to Andre to win it, but with both Murkrow and Absol at full health, it might be Lee and Zinnia who are in trouble!"_ Speakmen exclaims. _"Ben, please withdraw Gastly, and Lee, please select a new pokemon!"_

Gastly is pulled back into his pokeball as Ben steps back, letting his maroon-headed partner have the entire trainer box.

Lee gulps and recalls his unconscious pokemon, his abused raven returning to his ball in a flash of red. _'Shit, this is looking bad. Shelgon isn't going to last long, and Murkrow just has to run the clock on him. Murkrow needs to go down ASAP to draw Absol out so Vulpix and Shelgon can double team him. Just Vulpix is risky, and Goomy and Treecko won't be enough to fight that monster, I already know that.'_

Mind made up, Lee turns to Vulpix, who looks back with her large eyes shining with resolve. "Ready, love?"

Vulpix needs no other prompting and jumps from Lee's shoulder through a hole that opens in the barrier for her. She lands lightly in the sand and coolly looks up at Murkrow, who caws much like Corvisquire might.

" _Vulpix takes the stage! Here is where things heat up, folks!"_

Before any moves can be called, Shelgon grunts as the red aura of Curse flares up around him, freezing him for a second save for his barely hidden twitches of pain. When the fit passes, he pants harshly.

' _Right, we need to be quick. Shelgon is on his last legs. Chase him down with Ember, we can't hide if we're going to win.'_ Lee growls. "Vulpix! Ember!"

The vixen draws in a short breath and exhales a veritable storm of orange fireballs that all scream towards a very startled Murkrow. Without any prompting from Andre, the crow rises to escape.

"Shelgon, herd him back with Dragon Pulse!" Zinnia quickly jumps in as Murkrow tries to run.

"Double Team, now!" Andre counters.

' _Nice try,'_ Lee widens the channel between himself and Vulpix, easily settling into her psychic grasp. He snakes his will into her pyrokinesis and takes control of half the Embers to ease Vulpix's burden for what comes next. _'There's no running from this.'_

Murkrow's form shimmers before countless clones scatter around the ring. Shelgon's Dragon Pulse annihilates several of them, but the real one eludes the attack.

" _It looks like Murkrow is content to stay away from the action for a bit! A smart idea cons-hold the phone, what's going on?!"_

The watching crowd roars when all the Embers change course and fly as if they have a mind of their own, groups of the fireballs all picking a Murkrow to chase down. Every single Ember that passes through an illusion joins another group until it's three colossal clouds of fire running down three frantic crows.

" _Well, that's certainly new..."_

"Damn it, what are you doing?!" Andre demands, his eyes wide as he stares at the immobile Vulpix, who ignores him, too engrossed in her task to move. "Murkrow, Detect!"

Like Migtyena, Murkrow's eyes glint with supernatural clarity as the last two illusions are destroyed by the Embers. He twirls mid-air and weaves through the projectile hell around him with impossible grace, Embers missing him by less than an inch and often colliding with each other in explosions of flame.

Lee grits his teeth as the strain of guiding his half of the Embers begins to make his head throb. Likewise, he can feel the maintenance of the Embers beginning to drain Vulpix at an alarming rate. Each second that passes makes the rise and fall of her chest into more of a pant.

' _Cut them off. We'll try again later.'_

Vulpix obliges with a sharp exhale, making the Embers fade out into naught but sparks, leaving Murkrow hovering above as he catches his breath. The instant the crow pokemon stops moving, though...

"Scary Face, then Dragon Pulse!" Zinnia orders. "Go, Shelgon!"

Shelgon roars and glares up at Murkrow with eyes full of sheer _hate,_ making the bird pokemon choke up and unable to dodge the following blast of Dragon energy. Murkrow is plucked from the air and thrown against the barrier with a burst of loose feathers. He slides down the wall for several feet before he can open his wings and shakily take flight again.

"C'mon! Get at least one hit in!" Andre scowls. "Shadowball!"

Murkrow coughs and opens his beak wide, an orb of squirming purple forming and growing until it's nearly three times as large as Murkrow himself. Then with a loud caw, he sends the ball hurtling down to the spot between Vulpix and Shelgon.

' _Move!'_

Vulpix's legs tense, then she leaps away in one bound. Shelgon, however, is stuck with a grunt as his Curse flares up again. The Shadowball swallows Shelgon and explodes, a shock wave of curiously cold air washing over the whole ring.

When the smoke clears, cheers ring out as everyone sees Shelgon still standing, albeit barely. His shell is lined with cracks and scratches, his legs shake, and although difficult to tell under his armor, his breaths come in sharp gasps.

The longer he looks, the more Lee feels their chances of victory slipping away. _'Jeez. Okay, new plan...'_ Lee thinks back to when Murkrow used Detect, and how much of a toll it had on the bird pokemon. _'Chase him down with a small number of Embers, enough to cause damage but not so many that your stamina dies up too quickly. Got it, love? When Detect runs out, we hit him with something big.'_

Vulpix silently agrees with a flick of her ear, already drawing in a breath that comes back out as a stream of Embers.

Once again, all the Embers beeline for Murkrow, who turns tail and runs.

"Detect!" Andre orders, a smirk on his face.

' _Gotcha.'_

The much smaller group of fireballs remain hot on Murkrow's heels, coming in for pass after unsuccessful pass, and each time Murkrow gets away with nothing more than singed feathers. Even with Shelgon firing off Dragon Breath attacks to help, Murkrow escapes unharmed. Rather than just a few seconds of pursuit this time, the fox-guided Embers stay locked on like missiles and keep swooping in regardless of their flight time.

Murkrows dodging becomes more and more jerky and panicked as Andre's smirk falls.

Finally, one fireball tags the bird with an explosion of fire, throwing him off course with a squawk and into the path of another Ember, which explodes against him like the last one. With an unspoken signal from Vulpix, all the remaining fireballs make haste, and all crash into the flailing Murkrow one after another, trapping him in a barrage of fire and pain.

After the last Ember meets it's mark in a burst of flame, a smoking Murkrow falls limp from the sky with his eyes closed.

"Murkrow! Pull up now!" Andre grits his teeth. "It's not over!"

Murkrow does not reply and hits the sand with a sad _thump,_ all consciousness lost.

" _That's all she wrote for Murkrow!"_ Speakmen's words earn cheers from the spectators, a countless number of them now holding up phones and camcorders compared to the handful who were recording the whole battle. _"It's just Andre's Absol against four pokemon! This is either a closed battle or a comeback for the books! Andre! Send in your last pokemon!"_

Andre's sneer is traded for a sudden calm that immediately makes Lee wary. "Fine. Absol has always had my back and I know he won't fail me here," the teen boy says with absolute certainty, returning his downed Murkrow to his pokeball and drawing the last ball from the black metal gauntlet on his arm.

With deliberate slowness, Andre expands the ball and tosses it with only a flick of his wrist. In a flash of light following the pokeball's distinct _snap-hiss_ sound, Absol materializes in the field with his head bowed eyes closed. His eyes snap open and lock not onto Vulpix or Shelgon, but Lee and Zinnia.

Despite the warmth of the tropical sun high above, Lee feels a cold shiver run down his spine.

" _Here we go! That could be the last match of the Brawl on the Beach!"_

"Absol, Night Slash." is all Andre says, crossing his arms as he does so.

Just like with every match before, Absol's scythe-like horn glows a sickly violet before he slowly walks forward. His footsteps in the sand seems infinitely louder than any cheering or chatter from the people watching. The red eyes under Absol's brow of white fur watch Vulpix and Shelgon intently, waiting for a single mistake.

Shelgon stiffens as his Curse flares up, and before he can even wince, Absol is behind him with his scythe raised to strike.

Lee's eyes widen, and a single, reactionary thought from him with no words spurs Vulpix into action. She turns at breakneck speed and blasts Absol with a gout of fire.

Absol darts away from the nameless tongue of flame Vulpix shoots, well out of the way before the attack could even hope to hit. Absol lands in a crouch and regards Vulpix with the same flat expression he's held since his first match. It makes the tilt of his head almost mocking.

' _Mock this,'_ Lee grunts. "Will-o-wisp!"

Vulpix's maw opens wide, a ball of white flame blooming to life. She rears her head back and-!

Lee cries out when a white-hot line of pain is drawn across his back, his hand shooting to the wound, only to come back free of any blood. "Wha..."

Vulpix's yowl of agony instantly makes him forget his own pain, and he then realizes _why_ he felt something in the first place.

In the ring, Vulpix falters and shoots Will-o-wisp wide with no hope of recovering it. A deep slash across her back bleeds profusely as Absol stands behind her, his neck already bent in a post-strike stance. Absol then tenses and leaps away without even looking as Shelgon barrels through the spot he occupied just a split second prior.

"Lee!"

The man turns to Zinnia, who levels him with a look of alarm. "Are you okay? What was that about?!"

"Worry about the battle, not me," he answers quickly. "Vulpix! Love! Are you alright?!"

The vixen pants as her coat slowly turns red from the back down from the wound, but she nods without taking her eyes off of Absol.

' _How the hell did this pokemon get so quick?'_ Lee struggles to think of just how much time a pokemon would need to focus on speed alone to get _that fast._ Then another, more disquieting thought strikes him. _'Or maybe we're just slow?'_

"Shelgon, we're taking the offensive! Headbutt!" Zinnia orders with a pointed finger. She gives Lee a very pointed look, once saying _'help me'_.

Lee nods back and turns to Vulpix. "Vulpix, you know what to do," he says aloud. Mentally, he sends her: _'Use Baby-Doll Eyes. We need to lower his ability to attack as far as we can.'_

"Absol, take them apart. Night Slash," Andre says, even going so far as to close his eyes and smile.

The Dark pokemon leans to the side, letting Shelgon pass him by as his scythe charges with Night Slash.

' _Now!'_

Vulpix's eyes light up with an eerie pink glow, invisible enfeebling rays shooting from them.

Absol's eyes widen, then without looking at Vulpix, he moves so quickly it looks as if he teleports a foot to the side, sidestepping Baby-Doll Eyes with impossible dexterity. He turns his blank gaze to Vulpix, making the vixen freeze.

' _Did he just dodge an_ _ **invisible priority move**_ _without even_ _ **looking?**_ _'_ Lee feels his head begin to spin and scrambles for an answer.

Absol slowly lowers himself in what has to be a mocking telegraph before stopping and freezing. Then without looking behind him, he sways out of the way of Shelgon's follow-up Headbutt and lashes out with his scythe, carving a furrow in Shelgon's side that draws blood through his armor.

Shelgon stumbles, and Absol takes the opportunity to loose a blindingly fast slash again, slicing through Shelgon's shell like a knife might do through styrofoam.

"Shelgon!" Zinnia screams, her eyes wide and devoid of her usual mirth. "C'mon, baby! Hang in there! Dragon Breath!"

The encapsulated dragon growls and turns, his green flames licking the corners of his mouth.

"Help him, Vulpix!" Lee calls. "Ember! And don't let up."

Vulpix wastes no time in throwing her head forward, launching a blast of Embers that all zig-zag through the air at Absol.

Absol ducks Shelgon's Dragon Breath then rolls to his feet and dances around the cloud of fireballs all desperately flying around like hornets attempting to sting him. Not a single movement is wasted and Absol only ever moves enough to avoid harm, not an inch more.

Vulpix growls and pours more energy into Ember, making the fireballs whiz around like vengeful sprites, but no matter how fast they become, The Disaster pokemon flows like water around them and doesn't even have a singed strand of fur to show for it. Finally, Absol scoffs and charges Night Slash once more. The instant a hole in Vulpix's attack opens, he shoots through it and charges the fox, the sand under his feet exploding from the sheer force of his movement.

Vulpix's eyes shoot wide open as the scythe blade bears down on her, seemingly in slow motion.

"Vulpix!" Lee screams, his heart jumping into his throat.

Absol's neck flexes, and the scythe-like horn falls.

_Schink!_

...Right into Shelgon's shell.

At the last moment, the dragon forces his way between Absol and Vulpix, catching the horn in his armor, and before Absol can pull away, Shelgon roars and twists his whole body, drawing a wince from Absol as his stuck horn twists his neck.

"Lee, if you've got a big attack, use it now!" Zinnia demands, turning to the scarred man with a grimace. "Don't worry about Shelgon! Just blow this guy away!"

Across the way, Andre frowns. "What? Absol, get out of there!"

Absol begins to struggle, trying to remove the torque on his main weapon so he can disengage, but Shelgon holds strong and fights the Dark-type tooth and nail. Shelgon is wracked by his Curse again, but powers through to keep Absol still.

It takes Lee a moment to process Zinnia's words, but when he does and understands just what she's doing, he gulps and nods. "Vulpix," he calls.

"Use Convergence."

The vixen leaps away, not needing to be told twice. She lands a dozen yards away, her eyes glowing a baleful orange as the ring begins to heat up.

All around Shelgon and Absol, great, rolling balls of fire spawn from nothing, each one rapidly growing and driving the heat in the ring up even further. A few of the awestruck spectators back-up as the heat bleeds through the barrier.

"Absol, get out of there now!" Andre orders, looking worried for the first time in the entire match.

His pokemon struggles harder as the orbs of fire around him and Shelgon grow past the size of soccer balls and begin to creep up on the size of beach balls.

Vulpix pants, her stamina beginning to falter the larger the fireballs under her control become.

' _C'mon, love! You can end it right here!'_ Lee wraps her psyche in a layer of adoration just like she always does to him. _'I know you can!'_

The fireballs surge and grow larger than ever.

Absol sees the countless fireballs morph into miniature suns and growls. With a grunt, he slowly begins to overpower Shelgon, who is at his limit. Then with a shrill, haunting cry, Absol _lifts_ Shelgon's entire three-hundred-pound bulk, still stuck to his horn, over his head.

"Fire!" Lee orders.

As one, all the fireballs converge on Absol, exploding like a...

**LUNGS BLISTERING**

**SKIN BU-**

Lee growls and forces the bout of vertigo away.

The entire dome shakes from the force of the overcharged Convergence, prompting screams from onlookers. Cracks even spider web along the dome before Speakmen's sweating Hypno repairs the damage.

" _H-Holy moly! What in the world was that move, Brawly?!... Brawly?"_

The bewildered Gym Leader in the lifeguard tower raises his microphone slowly. _"I...am not sure, Josh. It was the first time I've ever seen something like that."_

As the smoke begins to clear, there are no pokemon left standing in it. Shelgon, finally knocked out with a shell filled with cracks, lays on his side, but Absol is nowhere to be seen. Off to the side, Vulpix falls to her rear and pants harshly.

' _Did we win?'_

Ripping pain in his side answer's Lee's question in the worst way.

Vulpix screams as something jagged tears into her flank and throws her against the barrier from the force. An instant later, Absol materializes at her side.

The last of the smoke finally clears, showing Absol panting from his place by Vulpix. The Disaster pokemon is covered in horrible burns and one of his hindlegs is obviously dislocated from how he refuses to put weight on it. His eyes are wide and wild, a far cry from his aloof standing just a few minutes prior, but the most telling thing is his horn.

Or what's left of it.

The keratin weapon has lost it's last few inches, shortening it and leaving the edge ragged. It'll likely take weeks before it grows back. Andre looks devastated on his side of the field.

Vulpix, already running on fumes from bloodloss, her most powerful attack to date, and now a new wound, falls to the ground, her mind dulling not unlike a fitful sleep to Lee.

" _Unreal! Absol survives uh... What was it called? Convergence? Whatever it was, he made it out in one piece, taking down both Shelgon and Vulpix against the odds! Zinnia and Lee! Send in your final pokemon!"_

Lee numbly holds up Vulpix's ball in a shaking hand and recalls her into it. All that's left are Treecko and Goomy.

_Treecko and Goomy against a pokemon that took everything Vulpix could dish out._

For a moment, Lee entertains the thought of surrender. _'But Zinnia would never let me hear the end of it, and Treecko...'_

Reluctantly, Lee draws his last pokeball from his pocket, but stops when Zinnia's hand falls onto his. Looking up, he sees her with a wide grin.

"Why so happy?" The man questions with a shake of his head. "You do realize we're about to lose, right?"

"No, we're not!" She grins even wider and withdraws her hand. "I figured out his gimmick!"

That earns a raised eyebrow from Lee. "Gimmick?"

"How Absol dodges everything," the dragon tamer says, bringing her voice down to just above a whisper. "All of the brat's pokemon know Detect, and Absol learns Detect naturally. It gives the pokemon a split second of all-seeing clarity, see?" She gestures with a finger pointed to her eye. "So they can see anything incoming, even things coming from behind. It would stand to reason his best pokemon is the best user of this shared move, right?"

All at once, it clicks into place. "So Absol is using Detect without being ordered to? That's how he avoided taking hits until he was trapped?"

"Yes!" Zinnia wiggles in place happily. "And like with Murkrow, Detect can only be used for so long before the clarity fades, so if we keep Absol on the defensive..."

"We can land a good enough hit to finish him off..." Lee realizes, hope burning in his chest. "Hot damn, Zinnia. Nice detective work."

" _Hellooooo, red team? Is your powwow done?"_

Lee turns and glares up at Speakmen, who jumps. _"J-Just asking is all!"_

Taking Treecko's ball in his hand, Lee brings it up to his mouth to whisper: "Stay in sync with Goomy, this one can't be allowed to go on the offensive at all," he murmurs.

The ball wiggles in his hand, drawing a smile from Lee. "Right. Treecko! You're up!"

"Goomy! Finish this!"

Both Lee and Zinnia toss their last pokeballs, which pop open and deposit Treecko and Goomy into their side of the field.

Treecko meets eyes with the nearly-feral Absol and settles into a guarded stance.

Goomy quivers, the only thing keeping him from quitting against this scary pokemon being the fact that it's a two-on-one fight.

"Absol, Night Slash!" Andre orders, forcing a sneer that doesn't quite fit on his face anymore.

"Goomy, Dragon Breath!" Zinnia starts.

"Treecko, Quick Attack into Pound!" Lee follows up a second later.

Goomy balloons up with a green glow, then blasts a gout of green fire at Absol as Treecko circles around in a sprint.

Absol weaves around the Dragon Breath and ducks a swipe from Treecko, only to have to leap to the side to avoid yet another blast of fire. His leap nearly sends him into Treecko's Pound, where he narrowly ducks. Absol then has to jump with a growl to avoid a Water Gun from Goomy that explodes against the sand.

For several long minutes, Absol is stuck in a game of avoiding the other two pokemon, and with each passing second, he tires more and more. Once he tries to rush Treecko, but his wounded hindleg makes him falter and he nearly pays with a Pound to the skull. All the while, Andre grows more and more frustrated.

"Dammit, Absol!" Andre finally blows up, his fists clenched and his face red. "Take one of them out already! Push past the pain and get it done! Remember what is on the line, here!"

Absol grits his teeth and raises his wounded leg at this trainer's words. All the muscles in his lower body flex and ripple at once. Then with a sicking _pop,_ his hip joint is popped back into place.

The action is so unexpected that Goomy stops attacking to gape at the stunt, and Absol homes in on the hesitation instantly.

As little more than a streak of ghostly white, Absol appears before Goomy with his broken scythe raised. An instant later, Goomy is sporting a deep laceration across his middle with an uncomprehending expression, his mucus armor doing nothing to stop the attack. After a split-second, the pain hits and Goomy cries out, writhing and struggling.

Lee can see the brittle hope on Zinnia's face die, her expression falling into resignation.

As Goomy cries out, he accidentally bashes one of his antennae against Absol's leg.

Absol yelps and jumps away, holding his foreleg up with a wince.

Right where Goomy's antennae hit, a barbed stinger oozing a purple substance is sunk into Absol's leg.

"What the hell?" Lee asks, blinking at the Absol as he sways on his feet only to shake his head and correct himself. "Goomy has a stinger?"

"Two, actually," Zinnia glumly replies, returning Goomy to his ball as the little dragon faints. "They're hidden in his antennae. A stab from one is like getting hit by Toxic," she says, looking between Absol and Treecko.

"Why didn't Absol dodge?" Lee wonders aloud

"Who knows. Maybe it's because Goomy didn't intentionally attack?" Zinnia shrugs. "Get ready. Here he comes," she warns.

Lee ignores Speakmen's words about Goomy's withdrawal as Absol rushes Treecko, Night Slash ready. Already, Absol's poisoned movements are positively sluggish since the naked eye can track him.

"Treecko! Run him down until the poison weakens him enough!" The scarred trainer orders as Treecko barely ducks the Night Slash.

"To hell with that!" Andre screams, his face contorted in desperation. "Absol! Full blast! Give him everything you've got!

Absol and Treecko both narrow their eyes. Absol tenses and Treecko is cloaked in the white aura of Quick Attack, then the pokemon rush each other.

Treecko sidesteps a slash that draws a thin red line in his side, then backpedals when Absol flips forward and lashes out with his bladed tail, cleaving through where Treecko's head was a second prior. Then Absol ducks under a kick from Treecko and clamps his razor-sharp teeth into Treecko's ankle, making Treecko wince. Then with a whip of Absol's neck, Treecko is flung away like a toy.

"Absol, Razor Wind!"

Absol draws his broken scythe back and swings his head, throwing screaming wind blades at Treecko

"Treecko, Feint Attack!"

The wood gecko takes a deep breath, then to all the onlookers, vanishes as if he were never there. The Razor Wind attack flies right through where he was without hitting a thing.

Absol pants and scans his eyes around, for one, two, three, four seconds, then rolls out of the way when a thick tail nearly brains him. The instant Treecko is visible, Absol roars and swipes a paw at him, drawing three thick lines across Treecko's torso.

"Don't hold back! Night Slash!"

Treecko leaps away and holds the wounds with gritted teeth. But Absol refuses to give him any rest and charges again, swiping with his paws wreathed in a watered-down Night Slash.

Lee bites his lip as he watches Treecko just barely avoid a grievous, unconsciousness-inducing wound each attack, but he's still nicked and cut a little each time. Each wound weeps just a little bit of red, but enough of them will...

"Wait for an opening, Treecko! He'll tire before you do, so punish every mistake!" Lee calls, desperately hoping he's right.

Absol finally overextends an attack and Treecko quickly slides to his side, tail glowing white as he twirls and goes in for a knockout.

...But the Dark-type just leans out of the way without needing to see the attack, letting Treecko turn a full 180 degrees away from him as the missed Pound bleeds off its momentum.

Absol's scythe glows with a charged Night Slash as the Absol rushes Treecko's turned back with a final burst of flicking speed.

Lee sighs and palms Treecko's ball, but drops it in shock when he sees what happens next.

Treecko twists around the Night Slash with supernatural grace, all _without looking._ His yellow eyes shine with clarity as he continues his spin and unleashes Pound again.

The Dark-type's eyes widen and he goes to duck, but freezes when a cough with sickly purple froth forces it way from his mouth.

Treecko's tail slams into the side of Absol's head like a club, lifting the Dark-type right off his paws and throwing him harshly to the sand, digging up a trench as he comes to a stop.

For a single heartbeat, everyone is silent. Then Absol twitches and groans, trying to force his way to his paws. After a few seconds of fruitless struggle, Absol finally goes limp, his eyes closing.

Treecko pants from his place just a few yards away from Absol then straightens up with a small smile. A second later, a beautiful white glow overtakes his form.

"No way..." Lee breathes.

Treecko grows inside the shell of white light, gaining over a foot of height as long leaves sprout from his wrists, his head, and his tail. His body loses the young roundedness of youth, replaced with a sleek reptilian form. The glow fades, and Grovyle takes Treecko's place, now with several thin scars on his belly and arms.

Grovyle looks toward Lee with a small smile around the twig in his mouth, and Lee can help but grin like a loon in return.

One. Two. Three.

Speakmen's airhorn blows and the crowd explodes into cheers

" _That's one for the record books, everyone! The most thrilling Brawl we've had in years!"_ Speakmen practically jumps for joy, making the rickety lifeguard tower sway. _"I almost can't believe it! It was neck and neck right till the end! Treecko's decisive attack won the day and pushed him to evolve! I bet mister Lee Henson is beside himself with happiness!"_

Lee can't help but throw his head back and laugh as Hypno's dome comes down, letting him walk out into the ruined field to Grovyle, _his Grovyle._

Grovyle reluctantly lets Lee sweep him up into a hug, crossing his arms and trying his best to look indifferent in the arms of his trainer. After a long second, Lee sets Grovyle down.

"I cannot begin to tell you how proud of you I am," Lee begins to Grovyle, his face starting to hurt from how hard he's smiling. "Not only do you go above and beyond in training, but you also get it done when it counts in battle. I thought for sure we were done for, but you clutched it, bud! You did it!"

Grovyle looks away but retains his smile. Lee is sure that if his reptile anatomy allowed it, Grovyle would have a dusting of embarrassed pink on his cheeks.

"Wow... that was insane."

Lee and Grovyle turn to see Zinnia walking up to them, looking dazed as she glances between them. She snorts, then the snort grows into a goofy full-belly laugh that restores her usual grin to her face. "I gotta say, I made a good choice following you."

The Zoologist rolls his eyes then looks behind Grovyle to see how Andre took his loss.

The boy sits on his knees in the sand, staring down at Absol's pokeball in his hand with shock. The lack of scowl, or sneer, or any other foul expression makes his face seem shockingly young. The maroon-haired teen's head bows and his free hand clenches around nothing. His shoulders begin to shake, from anger or what, Lee isn't sure.

Behind him, the other boy from earlier, his partner Benjamin, steps out of the crowd to place a gentle hand on Andre's shoulder. Benjamin's own face is set into a melancholic frown.

Andre suddenly rises and throws Benjamin's hand off of him before turning and quickly walking away.

In the sand where Andre was kneeling, there are several wet spots.

Lee just sighs and shakes his head.

"Hey! Dynamic Duo!"

Lee and Zinnia both turn, finding a grinning Brawly behind them. "We gotta crown ya! C'mon!" He says, turning and walking back to the lifeguard tower as Lee and Zinnia follow. He beckons them to come up the tower with him, stopping only long enough for Lee and Zinnia to hand off their pokeballs to the Chansey running the medical tent. When at the top, he grabs his microphone again.

" _How did you all like that Brawl, everyone?"_ He speaks as if he didn't already know that answer.

The uproar of everyone below can probably be heard on the other side of the island. Somehow, there are even more signs in the crowd depicting Zinnia, Lee, and their pokemon.

' _Fast artists, I guess?'_

" _I thought so. They'll be talking about this one for years."_ Brawly smiles. _"It's my pleasure to crown Zinnia Draconid and Lee Henson our Dynamic Duo and champs of this year's Brawl on the Beach!"_

Lee and Zinnia step forward, Zinnia with infinitely more pep than Lee as the tower lets him see just _how many_ people were watching him. With a gulp, he waves to everyone and tries to look small as Zinnia openly relishes in the attention with a gleaming smile.

"Feel free to rest up here for a bit before going down to your adoring fans," Brawly chuckles as Lee steps back and takes a seat in one of the chairs in the back corner of the tower.

"Will do, thanks," Lee agrees easily. Then a thought strikes him. "Hey, Brawly?"

The Gym Leader perks an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"How do you know that kid, Andre? He was giving you some ugly looks."

When Brawly's face darkens, Lee quickly amends his question. "No need to answer if it's personal, but he was a hell of a trainer and it's got me curious is all."

Brawly is silent for a moment, seemingly chewing on his words. "He... is a friend of the family, and we haven't seen eye-to-eye recently, is all," The taller man says. "He's stubborn in a..." Brawly stops short. "...In an interesting way."

Lee nods, not pressing further. "Gotcha."

The Gym Leader smiles again. "Oh, before I forget, you might want to hit up a drugstore with your prize money."

"Eh?"

"Take a look at yourself," Brawly points at Lee with a snicker. "You're as red as a Corphish. Get the Rawst infused stuff, and you'll be right as rain in a day or two."

Lee looks down at this chest and arms, which are totally red from several hours in the sun. "Well shit."

* * *

"What? It couldn't have been that rad!"

In the blessedly cool motelroom he and Brendan share, Lee smirks at the young boy and tosses another toothpick into the air.

A glowing blade of green slices it cleanly in two.

"Explain this guy, then," He says, pointing to Grovyle, who stands with his Leaf Blade powered up and eyes closed. Lee throws another toothpick from the box he bought at the drugstore at Grovyle, and without opening his eyes, the gecko slices it in two with a flash of green

At the foot of the bed, Vulpix dozes quietly, her back and side wrapped tightly with bandages and a nurse's order to take it easy for several days. The feeling of her being actually asleep rather than unconscious is night and day, a soothing balm to his excitement-frayed nerves. Lee is silently glad her beautiful pelt won't scar up from the cuts.

Corvisquire, meanwhile, remains perched on the back of one of the chintzy motel chairs and broods as he stares outside at the darkened beach. All of Lee's attempts to pull him from his funk have failed so far.

Brendan groans and falls back into his bed, drawing his phone from his pocket as he does so. "Has anyone put it on the Battle Network yet?"

"You can try," Lee shrugs then winces when the action pulls at his sunburns. "There were a ton of people recording, so it's all going to be crumby phone vids. How did your search for an Aron go?"

"I don't wanna talk about it..." Brendan grumbles. "Geodude and Zubats for days, but not one Aron. I'm going back tomorrow."

"That's the spirit," Lee agrees, but something strikes him as a little odd. _'Not a single Aron? Weird. Oh well, that's tomorrow Lee's problem.'_


	20. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.  
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> Your favorite fuckboy at it again. This one was easy, honestly. Shout outs to patron Fabhar for the stellar proofreading.
> 
> A big thanks to NurseBold, Nicolas H, Max D, Tim M, ncskeeter56, Thomas D, Avo, S. Nutter, Lucy B, Lars H, Jesper B, Frogsamurai, Bunny Waffles, Lizard Messiah, Chymor, Kalafalafakah, Fabhar(especially Fabhar for the awesome proofreading work), Zach C, Dicky W, Sashank U, Patrick I, Mario C, and MidnightJayguar for being patrons.
> 
> An extra big thanks to Spartanstoryteller, Drekin, Teigen S, HyeoJ, Lennert B, and K for being high-level patrons.
> 
> Last but certainly not least, a very special thanks to BrokenOlive and Kendelle T for being top-level patrons.
> 
> Want to support me? See https://www.patreon.com/fuggmann

A blade of brilliant green flashes through the air with a quiet hum, slicing half an inch into a large, craggily boulder before stopping. The blade's luster fades, revealing it to be a long leaf attached to the wrist of a scaled paw.

Grovyle frowns and pulls his leaf free, eyeballing the boulder littered with slashes before him with distaste. The rare dead tree around the path to the Granite Cave proved too soft, letting his attack pass through them without much in the way of resistance. A large man-sized rock a bit off the path, however, provided an ample target to sharpen his blade against. Grovyle raises his leafy arm again and charges Leaf Blade, making the leaves glow a bright emerald and stiffen into razors. This time, he growls and does a full, lightning fast spin for even more momentum.

...Only to underbalance and stumble partway, killing his speed as he corrects his course, lest he fall.

_Schink!_

Leaf Blade stops only a fraction of an inch into the face of the rock.

With a disappointed grunt, Grovyle pulls his leaf from the stone and takes a step back.

A ways behind him, Lee sits with his back against a tree, watching his pokemon diligently train as they wait for Brendan and Zinnia to catch up.

"Don't beat yourself up, pal," Lee smiles encouragingly, looking up away from the Pokedex in his lap. "You've only had both that body and that attack for a day and some change. Try to limit how far you extend your arms and torso without moving a leg back as a counterweight. You'll get the hang of it. You always do."

Grovyle glances back at Lee, and after a second, offers a nod. He raises a humming Leaf Blade and focuses on the rock once more, letting Lee return to notes.

Lee raises his pokedex to his mouth and clicks on the 'record' button. "Log twelve, day fifty-two. Treecko evolved after his nail-biting victory at the tournament yesterday, which won us the whole thing. He proved his sheer talent by taking his dodging skills, refined from several weeks of dodging Swift, and refining them into Detect through observation of Absol, the ace of the other finalist. I even scanned him with my pokedex to confirm that he _does_ indeed know Detect. With the new move, he dodged what would have been a game-ending blow to knock Absol out. Does that count as a win worthy of a grant increase for the lab?"

Lee stops for a second and thinks. "You did say any prestige I bring to the lab means more money from the League, right? Anyway, Grovyle is definitely pleased with his evolution, but it has brought its own set of problems. The sudden increase in mass his body has undergone combined with the reduction in mass from his tail has left him unbalanced. I was hoping instinct would correct this, but apparently not. It's not a huge issue, as Grovyle is nothing short of a kinesthetic genius and is already back to fighting condition. I suspect in the next week or two he'll be back to his previous level of acrobatics and then some."

The man pauses his recording to watch Grovyle tense, then drive his Leaf Blade into the rock again, cutting a deep gouge into its face with a resounding _ting_ that echoes across the trees.

"In other news," Lee begins with a smile as he watches his pokemon. "Vulpix used Convergence in battle for the first time yesterday. It took nearly fifteen seconds to charge up between Vulpix's exhaustion and the stress of the battle, but with Zinnia's Shelgon holding that monster of an Absol still, Convergence wore Absol down enough for Grovyle to secure the win. The move's destructive power is incredible, and it doesn't seem to suffer from the same sort of backfire effect that other charged experimental moves of ours have. I'll have to research the cause of its stability more. Maybe more fireballs charging slowly is the cause? When we know more, we can begin on more moves."

"Lastly for this one, I kind of regret not going over history more during my prep time. I've been focused so hard on training my team that I've ignored everything else, and some idle browsing of Pokepedia last night was a kick to the head," Lee shakes his head and smiles sardonically. "I knew about the main regions and some rough history, but I still have to remind myself sometimes that this isn't a kids game, but real life. I had no idea that there were other regions like Fiore, Almia, Oblivia, Ferrum, Ransei, and a few even smaller ones I can't remember. No idea if they were in any pokemon games or not, and if they were, I didn't play them. I guess it makes sense that Professor Oak didn't seem suspicious when he heard I was from some small, isolationist land devoid of pokemon, kind of like an especially barren Orre. Ransei in particular stuck out to me."

Lee hums and silently wonders how to word this statement. "Ransei caught my eye for being the only region currently engaged in warfare. If Pokepedia is correct, they've been in a civil war raging between a fluctuating number of warlords for years, something I was not expecting at all. The mass embargo and travel ban placed on them from every major region doesn't seem to have slowed things, either. I expected the worst as I read on, but something seemed off. The casualties are practically nonexistent for a place embroiled in war... I can't help but morbidly wonder why? Military tech has obviously stagnated compared to what I'm used to, as America had a hulking military industrial complex, but some well-trained pokemon could cause death on a scale only surpassed by doomsday weapons like..."

Lee stops himself short, his mouth suddenly drying up. He sees Grovyle has stopped practicing Leaf Blade to instead watch his trainer with his arms crossed and a scaly eyeridge raised like an eyebrow. The gecko pokemon rolls his twig around in his mouth, waiting.

The zoologist clears his throat and raises his pokedex again. "Like, uh... Well, it doesn't really matter," he continues quietly, but Grovyle's eyebrow ridge raises a little more and gives away that he can still hear Lee. The man takes a breath. "Anyway, I guess there is also the flipside that factors the feelings of the pokemon in as well. I have no doubt a pokemon could slay a man easily, so the question then becomes 'would they want to?' and I'm guessing no in most cases."

"Hey! Did you have to run so far ahead!?"

Lee turns away from his pokedex and looks down the path to the Granite Cave, seeing Brendan, Marshtomp, and Zinnia walking towards him. Brendan smiles and waves before dashing forward, Marshtomp hot on his heels. Zinnia keeps her leisurely pace.

"That's it for now. Lee, out," Lee hits the 'end' button on his pokedex and stands up, dropping the pokedex back in his pocket. Grovyle leaves his rock to stand by Lee's side as Brendan and Marshtomp skid to a stop before them.

"I didn't run ahead, you guys just took forever," Lee sniffs. "It gave Grovyle and I some time to get a bit of early morning training in."

Brendan just sticks his tongue out at the older trainer, earning him a croaking laugh from Marshtomp.

"So, why are we here again?" Zinnia asks as she finally joins the group. She looks between Lee and Brendan with her arms crossed. "Something about Aron?"

"Yup!" Brendan nods. "Marshtomp and I were here all day yesterday looking for an Aron while you guys were battling. They're a little uncommon, but I should have found one after a few hours at least," the boy trainer says, whipping out his pokedex. On the screen is an Aron with a map of Dewford below it, and the Granite Cave has a red outline on it. "Unless Dad's database is out of date, but the Rangers are really good about their migration reports."

"I just pulled a fresh update this morning, so it's not the database," Lee supplies, pulling out his own pokedex. He goes to Aron's entry and sure enough, the Granite Cave is still highlighted. "Something funny is afoot."

"Hmm..." Zinnia taps her foot and looks up at the clear sky in thought. "Overcatching, maybe? Or an invasive pokemon?"

"If all the Aron were caught, it definitely would have generated an alert to some professor somewhere. I don't think it's that," Brendan shakes his head. "Dunno about any invasive pokemon that would want to hang out in a bog standard cave, though. Other than some ruins inside, there is nothing special about Granite Cave." He then turns to Marshtomp. "Any ideas, pal?"

The mudfish pokemon furrows his brows and rubs his chin in a show of thought, then he leans down and presses both of his palms flat on the ground before tapping the dirt of the path with a hindleg several times. For a long second, he waits, then stands and shrugs, his show of siesmolocation apparently returning no interesting results.

Inspired by Brendan, Lee looks over to Grovyle. "Maybe you can sense something amiss, Grovyle?"

Grovyle shifts his ever-present twig to the corner of his mouth and lifts his head. His long tongue darts out several times, collecting smells that his weaker nostrils surely would miss. He mulls to himself for a moment, then shakes his head.

"That's fine. We'll try again when we're in the cave," Lee smiles.

Zinnia's mouth lifts into a lopsided grin. "I hope you boys are okay with protecting little old me in that cave. Shelgon and Goomy still need to rest, and while Swablu is okay to fight, I'd rather her recover fully first."

' _Glad to see she can dial-back the battlelust when her pokemon aren't at 100%.'_ Lee nods approvingly. "Vulpix is much the same. She still needs a few days to heal, but Grovyle and Corvisquire are ready," he says, silently giving the muted psychic tether to his vixen's pokeball a little tug. A tiny niggling bug of anxiousness still crawls around in his stomach from the idea of Vulpix being down, but the composed wood gecko at his side eases Lee's greatest worries.

"Shroomish took a nasty Bite from a lucky Zubat yesterday, so he needs a day or two," Brendan finishes the little roll call with a frown. "Little jerk ate a Take Down from Marshtomp for the trouble."

"So we've got four-ish battle ready pokemon between all of us. I've got absolute confidence in Grovyle-" said pokemon smirks at the praise "-and Corvisquire, and I know Marshtomp is a beast. Swablu and the others should be able to rest easy," Lee says, crossing his arms with a pleased smile. "Shall we?"

The three trainers and two pokemon begin the rest of the trek down the beaten path to the cave.

"Say, Lee?" Zinnia asks a minute into their walk.

"Hmm?" He replies.

"Who were you talking to when we walked up?"

Lee blinks, his hand dipping into his pocket to fiddle with the pokedex inside. "No one. The Professor wants me to do logs every so often and send them to him so he can pick my brain. The one you caught the tail end of was an update about my team's progress and some stuff I did some light reading on. You two heard of the Ransei region?"

Zinnia shakes her head with a sheepish smile. "Ah, I don't really keep up with news."

"Ransei is a small region that's been at war with itself on and off for almost a hundred years now. It's made of seventeen different kingdoms that refuse to come to an agreement. The various Pokemon Leagues have tried to intervene over the years, but eventually gave up in favor of an embargo and a bunch of sanctions. It hasn't worked since there is no formal blockade and smugglers like to take supplies there and sell them for huge markups." Brendan supplies. He flushes when four pairs of surprised eyes turn to him. "What? I didn't become a trainer at twelve because I wanted to wait, dad held me back two years to tutor me. Geography and politics were included!"

' _Huh. So that's why he started late. Birch doesn't get enough credit for how thorough he is.'_

"What's so special about this Ransei place that you talked about it in particular?" Zinnia asks as the mouth of the cave comes into view.

"It's the only place that's currently in conflict is all. I know Kanto and Johto clashed briefly like twenty years back, but it was over and done in a few short months with Johto's surrender and minimal casualties. Before that, there is almost nothing bigger than border skirmishes. It's just kinda strange that Ransei has dragged theirs out so long," Lee shrugs. "Anyway..."

The three people and two pokemon stop before the wide entrance to the Granite Cave. It's a massive hole in the side of a large, rocky hill that houses the rest of the cave system, easily large enough to let an Onix slither though. Off to the side, a warning sign bolted to the ground urges trainers entering to be wary and non-trainers to turn around. The sunlight barely penetrates the murky darkness within, and after several yards, everything beyond is pitch black.

Brendan is quick to unshoulder his backpack and zip it open. He dips a hand inside, and a second later withdraws an electric lantern. He flips a switch, and the lantern comes to life with an artificial blue glow.

"Alright! I'm not leaving without an Aron this time!" Brendan grins and steps into the cave. "C'mon!"

Marshtomp croaks and happily follows.

Lee slows for a second and turns to Grovyle. "Stay close to myself and Zinnia, alrighty?" He asks. "I'm sure we're going to piss off more than one pokemon by disturbing them, and you'll make them think twice about taking a swipe at the fragile humans, yeah?"

Grovyle crosses his arms and nods, falling into step right behind Lee and just in front of an amused Zinnia. "My knight in green armor," she snickers.

Brendan leads the train into the Granite Cave, his lantern providing just barely enough light to see ahead.

Lee lets his eyes roam, taking in the sights of the cave.

Just as named, the walls of the cave are all rough granite of different colors, mostly black, white, and gray. Stalactites of ringed granite, like a raccoon's tail, droop from the ceiling, each one glistening with moisture and many holding sleeping Zubats and a single large Golbat. The ground below their feet is worn smooth, probably from the countless visitors and pokemon treading upon it, and an experimental scuff of Lee's boot reveals that it's slick as well. The sounds of dripping water and wind echo all over, making pinpointing the location of individual sounds a chore. The further into the cave they walk, the cooler it becomes.

Zinnia shivers and pulls her cloak a little tighter around herself when a brisk breeze blows past. "Jeeze, I should have brought something a little heavier..."

SIlently, Lee agrees. His jacket, built to breathe and protect from the sun, offers little in the way of warmth. _'I wish Vulpix was well enough to travel outside her ball. She'd keep me warm...'_

Brendan just rolls the normally rolled-up sleeves of his shirt down. "Yeah, but it beats the heat I say."

Neither Grovyle or Marshtomp seem bothered by the cold, or atleast Marshtomp isn't. Grovyle's neutral expression slowly falls into a frown as he subtly rubs his forearms. No doubt he'll need to bask in the sun for a while after this adventure, Lee thinks.

The path in the cave trails apart into several smaller, less worn ones with jagged stalagmites jutting from the floor. A pair of Geodude watch the group warilly from behind several of the stalagmites as they pass down the largest and most worn path, one big enough for a large pokemon to squeeze by without breaking any of the granite formations.

Twice, a pokemon irritated by the light and noise approach them from the gloom, one a Sandshrew and the other a Geodude, but both retreat when Grovyle growls and raises a Leaf Blade that hums with barely hidden malice.

"Where exactly are the Aron supposed to be, Brendan?" Lee asks after nearly half an hour following the boy. He looks around to hopefully see a sign of them, like any shed iron armor, but finds nothing.

A drop of water falls from the ceiling onto Brendan's face, making him grunt as he wipes at the spot. "They should be in the deeper parts of the cave, but I went all the way down until the tunnels abruptly ended. No stalagmites with fresh rubbings on them, no bites out of a few iron desposts I found, and no dropped armor. It's like they vanished!"

Lee frowns and looks over to Grovyle. "Can you scent the air again? See if maybe you can find anything else? The smell of unrusted iron is what we're looking for."

Once again, Grovyle tips his head back and flicks his tongue a handful of times. He smacks his lips and furrows his brows, then once more flicks his tongue. The gecko hums to himself and points to the path they're still on.

"Perfect," the man smiles. "You heard him. Lets keep going."

"This is the way I went before, though," Brendan says, crossing his arms as he does so and making the lantern light dance across the walls. "All I found was a wall where the path stopped abruptly."

"Did you bother to look at a map, maybe?" Zinnia snarks with a shiver, looking more and more miserable as time passes.

Brendan scowls. "Yes, and every map said follow this path."

"C'mon, don't fight," Lee sighs. "Lets just go and see this wall. Maybe the map isn't accurate."

The team of five continue walking.

* * *

"And right here is where it dead-ends!"

Brendan points to a misshapen wall covered in dirt. Just as he said earlier, the tunnel narrows before coming to a sudden stop.

Zinnia steps forward and wipes some of the dirt away from the wall, scrutinizing the lumpy gray stone beneath it. "I don't think this is granite, shrimpy. It almost looks like this wall was put here on purpose."

"That's what I thought, too," Brendan ignores his nickname in favor of glaring at the wall. "But it's not uniform at all like a person made it, and who would go to all the trouble of hauling all this down here anyway?"

Lee leans back on his heels and crosses his arms, scrutinizing the puzzling barrier before them.

It's too rough to have been made on purpose by humans, yet the color of the stone doesn't match the granite of the tunnel around them. A slight breeze blows around him and makes him cross his arms a little tighter for warmth.

' _Probably not made by human hands, but maybe a pokemon? Roxanne's Nosepass was able to move obscene amounts of earth with Rock Tomb.'_

Marshtomp seems to have an epiphany and blinks with a happy croak. He steps past a bewildered Brendan, the fin on the top of his head quivering. The mud fish inspects several points on the wall, his fin speeding up with each inspection.

"What's he doing?" Zinnia asks, watching the pokemon run his hands over the rough stone.

Brendan suddenly realizes what his pokemon is doing with a grin. "Mudkips can detect changes in water and air flow with their head fin, and Marshtomps are even better at it! If he's picking up on something, then air is escaping through here, meaning..."

Marshtomp draws back, then before anyone can stop him, he gets a running start and launches a Take Down right into the wall.

With a deafening, tunnel-rattling _**boom,**_ the entire wall blocking the way is knocked down and blown into the next chamber as little more than oversized gravel. Tremors run through the whole tunnel and shake the ground below the group's feet.

Lee yelps and flails, and it's only Zinnia's quick, reflexive grabbing of his arm that keeps him from slipping and falling. Grovyle is even quicker, as he rushes across the slick cave floor and catches Brendan mid-fall before the boy can painfully meet the ground. A flurry of screeching Zubat fly out of the opened path just inches above their heads, no doubt roused by the noise.

After a second, the shaking stops, the dust settles, the Zubat all pass, and the way forward is clear.

...

"Hey, Marshtomp?" Brendan sighs as he pulls himself from Grovyle's hold with a quiet thanks. "Some warning next time? You coulda bought the whole cave down on us..."

The mud fish has the decency to look away shamefully.

Grovyle crosses his arms and glares at Marshtomp. He lets out a rolling hiss and chews on his twig with obvious agitation.

Whatever Grovyle said must be offensive, as Marshtomp's head snaps up to glare right back. He bellows in anger, the sound made all the more intimidating by the echo in the cave.

"Oi!" Lee's voice shuts both pokemon down before any more jabs can be traded. "Both of you cut it out," he orders as both pokemon look up at him. "There will be no infighting down here when you two are our main fighters. Marshtomp made a mistake and knows it, so there is no need to needle him over it, right?" Lee's eyes meet Grovyle's yellow. For several long, unblinking seconds, it looks as if Grovyle won't back down. Then the gecko pokemon finally breaks the staring contest and looks away, muttering something too low to hear.

Too low for anyone other than Marshtomp to hear it at least, as the Water-type looks mollified and replies with a much more calm croak.

"Anything else to add?" Lee asks, turning to Zinnia and Brendan.

"I think you got everything..." Zinnia snorts. She shakes some fallen dust from her hair.

Brendan looks between the opened way and Marshtomp. After a few repeats of this action, he seems to start and turns his eyes to Lee. "Uh, well it worked out this time, but Marshtomp and I will need to talk about busting stuff without warning," he says, trying to steel his expression into one of seriousness as he talks, but it looks somewhat comical on his young face.

Grovyle smirks when Marshtomp visibly cringes at the incoming punishment.

Off to the side, Zinnia smiles behind a hand and tries to play it off as a cough.

"Whatever you say," Lee nods. "Now, your Aron."

They all keep walking, and it's only after spying his own resting face in a passing puddle does Lee realize Brendan was trying to imitate his expression.

' _Oh jeez. Don't grow up that fast, kiddo.'_

The cleared path leads into an open chamber large enough that the light of Brendan's lantern can't reach all the way to the walls. The air inside is somewhat stale and humid, although the cooled breeze coming from behind them is swiftly changing that. Over the sound of the breeze though, is the sound of rock shuffling over rock.

Grovyle's head snaps to the side and his pupils dilate, staring at something Lee's human eyes can't see in the dark, making his stomach leap into his throat. The Grass pokemon steps forward and takes a stance in front of the humans of the group, with Marshtomp quickly lumbering to his side.

Out of the dark, a large Graveler steps into the light of the lantern.

The pokemon resembles a four-foot tall, knobby boulder on a pair of stubby, rocky legs. From its sides four arms jut out, two on each side that end in two thick fingers and a thumb each.

The pokemon levels them all with a furrow-browed expression and grit teeth. A growl that sounds like rough stones being dragged along each other rattles the bones of the people and pokemon before it.

...Then the Graveler falls forward face-first with a crash that kicks up chips of rock before going still.

"Is... Is it playing dead?" Brendan asks, daring to take a step closer.

Lee wastes no time in putting a hand on Brendan's shoulder, stopping the boy from going any closer to the huge rock pokemon. "Dunno, but let's not get closer. I like my limbs where they are, thanks."

"Uh, boys?" Zinnia slowly raises a finger to point at Graveler. "I think I found out why this guy passed out on us."

Lee and Brendan follow her finger to Graveler's back. Brendan gasps and Lee swears under his breath.

A gigantic bite-mark that looks as if it came from a demented crocodile runs all the way down Graveler's cracked and chipped back. Bits of Graveler's rocky shell are missing, and several white outcroppings stand out in sharp relief to the living boulder's armor.

Lee carefully steps closer to the prone Graveler and gently grabs one of the white protrusions from its back. He freezes when Graveler groans, but when the pokemon does not rise, he slowly pulls the white thing free and steps back to inspect it with Brendan and Zinnia crowding around. Brendan raises the lantern to shed light on the object the older trainer pulled from Graveler.

In Lee's gloved hand is a tooth as long as one of his fingers.

' _Oh hell no.'_

"A Mawile tooth?"

Lee looks to Zinnia, not stopping her when she picks the tooth up to inspect it. "You know what this is?"

Zinnia nods as she turns the tooth over in her fingers. "Yeah, Mawiles are Fairy-types, the bane of dragons, and a Draconid always knows her enemies well," she says with a smug grin.

"I thought they were Steel-types?" Brendan asks.

"Dual typing. Mawile was thought to be just Steel until a few years ago. No one was sure why Mawiles matched up better than they should have against dragons until Fairy-type was discovered." the dragon tamer corrects. "Anyway, this tooth isn't yellowed at all, and normally it's old teeth that go first, meaning the Mawile who did this is either young or stressed."

"Maybe both," Lee frowns, looking at the other teeth in Graveler's back. "How long was that wall up for? There are a lot of fucky things going on here and I don't like it. C'mon."

Lee, Zinnia, Brendan, Grovyle, and Marshtomp step around the wounded Graveler after Lee gives the rock pokemon a once-over to insure it incurred no fatal damage and resume forward at a slow pace. The two pokemon of the team carefully scan around so as to not be taken off guard again.

"It's too quiet," Zinnia murmurs after a few minutes of slow walking. She wraps her cloak around her a little tighter with a shiver when a breeze, the only noise in the cavern other than their footsteps, blows past. "There is no pokemon other than that hunk of rock behind us."

"And that Mawile, wherever it is," Lee amends, looking around at the darkened cavern. He reaches into his pocket and takes out his cellphone. He opens the menu on the device and turns on its flashlight, making the camera flash LED on the back light up.

The cellphone flashlight reaches much further than Brendan's lantern, faintly illuminating the walls and rock formations they've dodged around for the past several dozen yards. Everywhere the flashlight is pointed to, though, there is no sign of life, making the hairs on Lee's neck stand up. As he moves the light again, something glinting on the ground catches Grovyle's attention.

The lizard pokemon steps away from the group just long enough to grab the object from the floor and return, looking at it closely before offering it to his trainer.

"Thanks, Grovyle," Lee's smile fades as looks down at the bit of metal Grovyle presented to him.

It's little more than partially rusted scrap of iron the size of his palm. It's bent and warped slightly with what looks like a stab through it, splitting the metal on one side.

"Is that Aron armor?" Brendan asks, looking at the scrap in Lee's hand with open curiosity.

"I think so," the older trainer replies as he turns it over to look at the hole in it. It's sized like... "Wait, Zinnia? Do you still have that tooth?"

Zinnia blinks and digs a hand into the Silph pouch at the small of her back. "Yeah, right here," she presents the tooth to Lee, who puts his phone away to take it. It doesn't take long for Zinnia to catch on. "Do you think..?"

Lee slips the tooth into the hole in the iron scrap. The tooth falls to about half the length in, fitting perfectly into the scrap.

"And the mystery deepens," Lee mutters. "The Aron couldn't have been overhunted by a group of Mawile, cound they?"

"A single Mawile," Zinnia jumps in, looking at the evidence in Lee's hand with a careful, ruby eye. "They're solitary pokemon, and I don't think one could decimate an entire population."

"We should keep looking, then." Brendan says, his eyes roaming the dark cavern. "Cus something is not adding up here."

Zinnia slips the iron scrap and the tooth offered to her back in her pouch and Lee takes his phone back out, turning the flashlight back on. "Grovyle? Can you pick up any new scents? Maybe a stronger concentration of iron?" Lee asks

"Oh! And Marshtomp! Do you feel anything big moving through the floor?" Brendan hastily adds an order of his own.

Grovyle once again leans his head back and samples the air as Marshtomp drops to all-fours and stomps on the ground several times. Both pokemon look to the left a moment later. Marshtomp and Brendan are quick to take point as Lee, Grovyle, and Zinnia trail behind.

It only takes a minute and a few stumbles to find what the pair of pokemon were alerted to.

Along the far wall, there is an iron ore deposit that paints the wall a rusty scarlet color, and in the side of the deposit is a small burrow hole, one just barely large enough to let a pokemon under a foot tall walk through or let a slightly larger one crawl through. There are several other holes along the wall that the lantern light reaches, but the granite around the mouth of the one they find is worn smooth right where a pokemon might tread, more so than the others. Off to the side, there is one hole that is worryingly large, large enough for a Lairon.

Lee hazards a look at the large hole, shining his flashlight in. When no luminescent eyes suddenly open to stare back, he peers in closer with Grovyle bringing up his rear.

The walls of the burrow are coated in patches of natural rust, and in the back is a chamber spacious enough for several Lairon with room to spare. The granite and iron ore of the floor in the rear chamber is pulverized into a fine sand, probably for comfort. Lee reaches a hand in and feels around, noting that the burrow is cold.

He crawls back out and turns to Brendan and Zinnia. "It's cold. Whatever was in here, it hasn't been here in quite some time."

"Huh, why vacate a perfectly good nest like this?" Brendan wonders aloud. His eyes fall to the worn burrow entrance. "Maybe..."

The boy holds his lantern to the hole, and deep inside of it, a blazing red eye snaps open.

"Uh oh..."

A thunderous growl ripples through the cavern and glittering teeth become visible in the lantern light within the burrow.

Marshtomp wraps an arm around Brendan's waist and leaps backward, pulling the young trainer away just as a **massive** pair of jaws bristling with teeth dart out of the hole and snap shut with a sound like a bear-trap deploying. The sound rings over and over in the cavern.

Lee gulps and takes a step back as Grovyle takes a stance with a glowing Leaf Blade ready.

Slowly, a Mawile crawls from the burrow, its gargantuan, salivating jaws held ready as its red eyes regard the humans and pokemon before it carefully. Video games and anime do no justice to Mawile's main weapon, as the croc-like mouth is practically bursting with dagger-like teeth rather than a dinky handful with long open gums. There isn't even enough room for all the teeth, as some of them are crooked or overtaking other teeth. The mouth gnashes, producing a sound like grinding steel and throwing spittle around. The small, humanoid pokemon carefully keeps its back turned to keep its second, much larger mouth aimed at them.

"So you're the one who drove out all the Aron?" Brendan asks with a huff as Marshtomp lets him go and takes his place in front of his young trainer.

The Mawile simply snarls. the action dislodges a tooth that clatters to the floor.

"Well, I'm not leaving this cave empty-handed again!" Brendan scowls. "Marshtomp, get ready!"

"Brendan, are you sure about this?" Lee asks, looking between the Mawile and the now grinning Marshtomp. "Remember what I said about team comps and the pokemon who fill the role, both in terms of their personalities and abilities."

"Oh, I remember," Brendan's grin matches the one on Marshtomp's face. He cranks the lantern brightness to max and sets it on the floor, illuminating a field just big enough to fight in "A Mawile works even better than an Aron. Get ready, Mawile!"

The deceiver pokemon across from them lets loose a shrill roar.

Lee and Zinnia share a look and back up several steps, Grovyle following without turning his back on the wild Mawile.

' _I hope you know what you're doing, Brendan.'_

"Marshtomp! Water Gun!" Brendan opens.

The mudfish pokemon takes a deep breath, then fires a battering ram of churning water from his throat.

Mawile's eyes widen, and it uses its jaws to grip a nearby rock and pull itself out of danger in just the nick of time. The Water Gun narrowly misses, carving into the ground and deflecting into one of the burrows.

"Again!" Brendan orders. "Don't let Mawile rest!"

Mawile's eyes narrow as Marshtomp's chest swells again. It snaps its jaws shut, then a pink glow shines through its teeth. The lips of the mouth bulge as if trying to keep something inside. When Marshtomp's mouth opens, Mawile responds in kind, opening its mouth with a roar and firing a wispy beam of translucent pink.

Water Gun meets the pink air bullet halfway, throwing water everywhere.

Marshtomp just lets out a gurgling laugh and ups the power of his Water Gun midstream, turning the firehose torrent into an almost solid pillar of liquid.

Mawile's unnamed attack shatters like glass and Water Gun barrels forward like a runaway truck. The dual-type pokemon can only bring its shut jaws to bear as a shield.

With an earth-rattling _boom_ the Water Gun hits Mawile dead-on, throwing water everywhere and launching a wincing Mawile up into the air. It strikes the wall roughly from how hard it was thrown, but lands on its feet with a snarl and only scuffs to show so far.

"Is that all you've got?!" Brendan taunts. Marshtomp bellows in agreement.

Both of Mawile's mouths grit their teeth, making the same screeching steel sound as before. Then with a growl, Mawile rushes Marshtomp with surprising speed.

"Get ready, Marshtomp!"

Marshtomp's grin only gets wider when Mawile whirls around at the last second and throws open it's slathering jaws, which close around Marshtomp from either side like a spring-loaded trap.

Marshtomp's leathery hands shoot out, each one grabbing a single jaw each and stopping Mawile's Bite dead. The teeth dig into Marshtomp's skin, drawing droplets of blood. Mawile strains its jaw muscles, making Marshtomp's arms shake, but the jaws close no further.

"Marshtomp, let's show Lee, Zinnia, and Grovyle your new move!" Brendan laughs. "Use Seismic Toss!"

Mawile's struggles increase with a desperate growl.

"Damn, really?" Lee blinks. "Marshtomp must have had a Fighting-type as a parent. Little bastard is way too strong sometimes."

Grovyle just scoffs.

Back in the battle, Marshtomp bellows and lifts the flailing Mawile over his head by its jaws, then with a savage whirl of his arms, throws the pokemon at the ground head first like a sledgehammer.

An explosion of rock and dust is kicked up when Mawile strikes the ground like an abused toy, forcing the onlookers to cover their eyes. After several seconds, the dust clears, showing Mawile buried in the cracked granite floor head-first all the way to its shoulders. Its mouth of dagger-teeth lays limp, its tongue lolling out.

"Ha! Easy!" Brendan smiles and draws a pokeball. "Here we go!"

The empty ball flies from his hands and strikes Mawile, popping open and sucking the pokemon inside as a cloud of energy. It snaps shut and falls to the ground, wiggling to and fro, to and fro. Then...

_Pop!_

The ball snaps back open, it's hinge breaking as it does so, and deposits the limp Mawile back on the ground where it remains unconscious and bleeding from a gash in it's skull

Brendan's smile falls and Marshtomp looks bewildered. "What happened?"

' _It's not owned, or the pokeball would not have worked at all. Did Brendan just have a dud?'_ Lee wonders.

Marshtomp frowns and steps a little closer.

Inside Lee's head, he flashes back to Vulpix approaching a 'downed' Bagon. _'Hold up, I've seen this before...!'_

"Brendan, it's playing dead!" Zinnia warns a second before Lee can.

Mawile's eyes snap open and its jaws lash out like a snake, biting Marshtomp right around his middle, and drawing a yelp of pain from him. Then with great effort, Mawile raises its captive in its jaws and drives Marshtomp headfirst into the ground much like a bastardized Seismic Toss.

There is no great crash or explosion as Mawile lacks Marshtomp's might, but Marshtomp still hits the floor with his skull, making a cringe-inducing _thwack._ Mawile grunts and tries to lift its foe again, but a retaliatory Water Gun from Marshtomp loosens the jaws around him and throws Mawile away, letting Marshtomp roughly land on the ground.

Both Lee and Zinnia wince when Marshtomp rises.

Marshtomp's body is a mess of stabs and cuts from the teeth that all slowly ooze red. On the top of his head, his fin is bent and his blue head is dyed purple from a migraine-inducing bruise that slowly swells into an ugly goose-egg. Marshtomp rears back and lets out an absolutely livid bellow, his loudest to date.

"You like to play dirty, huh?" Brendan's face darkens to match his pokemon's fury. "Two can play at that game. I didn't want to bust out the Ground moves to keep it all sportsman-like, but okay. Marshtomp! Mud Bomb!"

Marshtomp lets out a gurgling laugh as his throat bulges, then he opens his mouth and fires a speeding cannonball of earth at Mawile.

Mawile tries to dodge by biting a nearby rock formation and pulling itself away, but is just barely too slow. The super-effective Mud Bomb strikes home and explodes into a plume of damp mud, throwing Mawile end over end until it hits the ground face-first. The fairy tries to rise again, but falters and finally goes limp.

"This time for sure!" Brendan calls, whipping another pokeball at Mawile.

Like the last one, the ball bounces off of the downed pokemon and snaps open, sucking Mawile inside before clattering to the ground. It wiggles back and forth several times, then...

_Beep!_

The middle button flashes and the ball goes still.

Brendan grins and walks over to the ball. He picks it up and shrinks it down, putting it on his belt by Shroomish's pokeball. "Too easy!" He says, pulling out his pokedex and navigating to his 'owned pokemon' screen if the sounds of his button presses are anything to go by.

Marshtomp grins and takes unsteady steps to his trainer, stopping and faltering over a divot in the ground.

"Oh man, you haven't been this busted up since our last gym battle, buddy," Brendan remarks, putting his pokedex away and unshouldering his bag. He produces an Oran that Marshtomp greedily gobbles down and a Potion that is liberally sprayed over Marshtomp's worst injuries.

"Good battle, Brendan," Lee smiles and walks closer, Grovyle silently shadowing him. "Mawile must be tough, to stand up to Marshtomp so well."

Brendan blushes under the praise as he treats the last of his pokemon's wounds. "Heh. Yeah. She'll do fine once the whole 'playing dead' thing is worked out." He puts his half-empty Potion away and stands again. "You alright to walk, pal?" He asks Marshtomp.

The mudfish rolls his eyes with a playful croak, striking a strongman flexing pose.

"Okay, if our little adventure here is done, can we go back up, please?" Zinnia whines. "It's cold as hell down here!"

"Isn't hell usually hot?" Brendan smirks. The smirk is promptly wiped off when Zinnia's hand darts out and pinches his cheek. "Owowow! Take a joke, woman!" He grumbles and rubs his cheek when he's released. "This is all I wanted to do down here, unless you have something to do, Lee?"

"At the moment, no," Lee shakes his head. "I do kind of want to see the ruins, but I might come back down with just my team and I to make it quick. Let's get going."

* * *

"This again?!"

Brendan groans and brings his lantern closer to ensure his eyes aren't playing tricks on him, but the lumpy wall remains.

Someone walled up the doorway leading back to the main Granite Cave tunnels again.

With all of them inside.

"Fun..." Zinnia says in a sarcastic drawl. "So there is someone down here doing it and keeping an eye on the door, too. Oh well!" She looks at Brendan. "Mind having your masochist bust down the door?"

Brendan bites his lip and looks at Lee, silently asking permission.

"Not much else we can do..." Lee reluctantly approves. "Go for it."

"You heard 'em, Marshtomp," Brendan tells his pokemon. "Take Down on the wall."

Marshtomp grunts and runs right at the wall with a white aura around his body, crashing through it and throwing stone everywhere on the other side.

Several of the stones ping off of metallic legs.

Lee peers through the opened path and instantly wishes he didn't approve of the dumb idea to break the wall down.

Standing in the middle of the tunnel flanked by several snarling Lairon, is a full-grown Aggron.

The pokemon is _huge,_ easily standing seven feet tall and so wide it almost takes up the entire tunnel. The grey, metallic armor covering its body is pockmarked with rends and scuffs, and its steel claws reflect the light of Brendan's lantern like razors. Each breath from its nose produces rolling plumes of steam in the cold air and an idle whip of its tail makes the earth shudder under their feet. Its blue eyes regard them coldly.

' _Oh fuck. Is this guy the one who was sealing the door?'_

It was then that Lee noticed the lack of Aron with Aggron and the several Lairon.

' _So either they were left behind for safety, or Mawile really did...'_

"U-Uh, Lee?" Brendan gulps. "Do you, you know, wanna do the thing you do? The 'not die from an angry pokemon' thing you did with Manectric?"

Lee takes a moment to find his voice. "Heads down, do not make eye contact. Make no noise. All of you."

Without waiting for a reply, Lee slowly steps forward to the front of his group and stops several arm-lengths away from the procession of Steel-types. "Hello, we apologize for intruding on _your_ territory. It was _not proper of us_. Are you the one who was sealing the way?" The entire time, Lee keeps his unblinking eyes focused just to the side of Aggron's head, not daring to meet the icy blue gaze head-on, and never lets his teeth flash past his lips.

Aggron's low growl is punctuated by a burst of steam from his nostrils.

"I see..." Lee licks his lips to try and wet his dry mouth. "It was to keep someone in, or to keep someone vulnerable out, yes?"

Aggron's growl is the same as last time.

The scarred man resists the urge to blink. "You may be pleased to know that the interloper is gone, driven away by us. Your efforts wore her down. Your nests, _your rightful property_ , are yours again," he says, omitting that Mawile now belongs to Brendan.

The metal behemoth is quiet for a moment, then slowly, he lumbers closer.

Grovyle is in front of Lee in a flash, his Leaf Blade humming and raised to strike. He stares fearlessly at Aggron, and Lee can practically feel his soul exit his body.

Aggron pauses to look at Grovyle, then makes a rolling, reverberating growl in his chest that makes steam shoot between the gaps in his metal mouth. It takes Lee a moment to realize that Aggron is _laughing._ He steps around the frozen Lee and Grovyle, carelessly breaking stalactites and stalagmites as thick around as small children as he makes a path of his own. He steps past Brendan, Zinnia, and Marshtomp, who move out of his way.

At the entrance of the cavern, Aggron raises his nose and takes several deep sniffs. He makes a deeper growl in his chest and turns an eye to the honor guard of Lairon.

One turns and runs down the tunnel while the rest shuffle past the group and follow Aggron, who lumbers away into the dark.

For several minutes they stay there until the sounds of Aggron's footsteps are gone. "Okay," breathes Lee. "Time to go before they realize their nests are full of water."

* * *

"Finally!" Brendan stretches his arms in the sunlight. "Time for a break!"

He and Marshtomp collapse in a heap, and Grovyle sits in the sun a short distance away, taking a deep breath and settling into a meditative stance.

Outside the cave, the sun has since fallen past the halfway point, and a look at his phone confirms to Lee that it's two in the afternoon.

He's also missed two calls from Birch in the cell deadzone that is the Granite Cave.

"Great," Lee mutters, opening his phone app.

"Hold on!"

Lee looks up from his phone to Zinnia, who stands before him with her hands on her hips with a frown. "What was that you did with that Aggron?"

"What was what?" Lee asks with his own frown. "I backed down, remained non-aggressive, and vacated his territory ASAP. It's the an- pokemon equivalent of kissing ass."

If Zinnia notices his near-slip, she doesn't show it. "That's not all you did. A pissed off pokemon isn't going to care for platitudes and will make an example out of you. I saw it. That Aggron was well and truly mad. What else did you do?"

"I explained it already," Lee shakes his head. "Why are you so insistent on this?"

Zinnia's mouth opens to answer, but she stops halfway. Then quietly, she says; "Aster could do that too."

"She could do what, too?" Lee asks, slowly becoming frustrated. "I still don't know what 'that' is."

"Talk to pokemon as easily as you."

That makes Lee stop. "I don't follow."

Zinnia sighs. "Aster. She had this way with pokemon, the same way you do. She just _understood_ them and they understood her. She talked a raging Salamence, my Shelgon's sire in fact, down out of a rage that threatened to burn down our village. _No one talks down a Salamence, Lee._ She did something different from everyone else, and no one could do it like her, not until I met you. You and Aster are alike. _"_

Lee blinks from the sudden info drop. "Well, uh..."

"Who is Aster?"

Both Lee and Zinnia turn, finding Brendan standing by them with big, curious eyes.

"She was the strongest trainer in my tribe and a dear friend of mine before she passed away." Zinnia closes her eyes and schools her face into a mask of neutrality. "She left the duty of Lorekeeper to me, the duty of being the strongest Draconid so that the Draconids could live through the strongest, most likely to survive member if calamity strikes."

' _I didn't expect her to share that with Brendan.'_

Brendan winces. "Oh, uh, sorry if I brought up any unpleasant memories."

The tanned woman smiles, but her ruby eyes are still dull. "Ha, don't worry about it. I've mourned and moved on. She would hate it if I was mopey over her anyway." She then looks at Lee. "Well if you're clueless about everything, I guess I need to keep following you till I figure it out. Go on, I won't keep you from calling your boss any longer."

"Gee, thanks," Lee rolls his eyes with a small smile and dials Birch, watching as Zinnia goes and sprawls out in the sunlight with a sound of delight.

The phone rings once, twice, then: _"Professor Birch speaking."_

"Hey professor, it's Lee. Sorry for not answering, I was down in the Granite Cave with no signal." Lee explains.

" _Lee! Just the guy I wanted to talk to!"_ Birch sounds happy. _"So, I got done reviewing your latest logs and I want to start off with how pleased I am with your progress. You're making ripples that will one day become huge waves, and your win at Dewford's little local tourney was excellent! Convergence is the talk of a lot of academic circles and forums alike. Take a look at the BattleNet forums sometime, it might be good for a laugh or some inspiration. In particular, Convergence and your Ember stunt with Murkrow shut up a few skeptics of your findings."_

"Thanksprofessor," Lee grins.

" _Anyway, I wanted to go over a few things and run a potential study by you and see how you feel about taking it on."_

"I'm all ears, lay it on me," The displaced trainer says, slowly pacing under the shade of a tree by the Granite Cave path.

There is the sound of papers being shuffled over the phone. _"So your list of wanted pokemon. Can you explain the reasoning behind them?"_

"Sure," Lee aggressed, mentally recounting his list as he stares at a Taillow preening itself in a tree. "Vaporeon, I want to research its shapeshifting abilities and I need a Water-type for my team, and Eevee is to get the aforementioned Vaporeon. I wanted a Snorlax, but their upkeep is just too much at this point in my career."

" _Wise choice. Trainers have bankrupted themselves feeding their Snorlax before."_

"Yep," Lee lets out a short laugh. "Flygon, I want a dragon, but am not super confident in taking on a full _dragon_ dragon yet. Audino and Chansey to help keep everyone in one piece. Seviper and Zangoose are whim picks. Persian and Luxray..." Lee pauses. "They're familiar, and I feel like I could raise one well."

" _Ah, like your... what were they called? Lions?"_

"Yes," Lee answers shortly. He pushes away the stinging melancholy and clears his throat. "Kangaskhan, I want for research into pokemon breeding and young rearing, but that can wait much like Snorlax. Meinshao..." Lee rubs the back of his head, feeling silly. "I want a Fighting-type, but a mammal that isn't humanoid. Call it a dumb hang-up..."

" _No no, I understand,"_ Birch reassures. _"Funny circumstances and all."_

"Funny circumstances and all," Lee agrees with a sardonic smile. "Latias and Latios are me shooting for the stars. I don't ever expect to find one, but it would be nice."

" _I heard that there are regular sightings of Latias and Latios in the island city of Alto Mare off of Johto. If you're serious, that might be a good place to investigate."_

" _Alto Mare is real? I thought the pokemon movies weren't canon at all...'_ Lee feels his mouth drop open. "Uh, sure. I'll look into it. Where was I?"

" _Braxien and Lucario."_

"Right, Braxien was a joke. I can't double-dip when I've already got a fiery fox," Lee laughs to himself. "And Lucario was my first pick over Mienshao, but considering Lucarios are all natural empaths..."

" _One under your care would be stressed out all the time_ ," Birch finishes knowingly. _"Well, sorry to hear that. Meinshao is still a good pick. Oh! And what is this last one that's scratched out?"_

"Last one?"

" _Yes. The only letters I can make out are W and O at the end."_

Lee is silent for a second to berate his past self for not tearing that out of his notebook. Shit. What is a good answer that Vulpix could come up with? "Uh, I misspelled Glameow and then decided I didn't want one."

" _Huh, okay. Thank you, that sheds some light on all this. If your list ever changes, shoot me an updated one, please."_

Lee breathes a silent sigh of relief.

" _Anyway, onto the study I was talking about. Lee, you should know that the level of telepathy between you and Vulpix is unprecedented. If you can get some official studies done and figure out how to replicate your feat with other pokemon,"_ Birch's voice hardens into a serious tone. _"You could redefine the field of pokemon-human relations."_

"What?" Lee asks with a furrowed brow. The Taillow he's watching flies away. "I'm not following you."

" _Sharing senses with telepathy is impossible."_

The scarred trainer takes a second to digest the fact. "But-"

" _You and Vulpix do it all the time, yes. It_ _ **was**_ _impossible until you and Vulpix came along. Think of the brains of humans and pokemon as two different computers, one transistor-based and one vacuum-based. Both can do the same basic tasks and resemble each other to a degree, but getting them to communicate without special hardware, in this case, mouths that can speak, can't be done. Sometimes a telepathic pokemon capable of basic things, like relaying raw emotions or images comes long, they aren't too rare. Then there are the really rare ones, ones able to convert their thoughts into understandable language. The talents of these pokemon are coveted, but Vulpix is on a level that only Legends are thought to be capable of. Lee..."_

Lee gulps at how severe Birch's tone becomes. He can hear the capital L in Legend.

" _You can tell_ _ **no one**_ _of Vulpix's talent. You haven't, have you?"_

"No, not a soul."

" _Good. Her pyrokinesis is one thing, but sense sharing? If word got out, rich, powerful people would put their whole life-savings on the table to either buy her or pay a thief to steal her. They might even hurt you to get to her. Her talents are unique. This study of ours will be one to determine how she can do all these things with resources I trust without question... If you're okay with doing it."_

With a tired sigh, Lee leans back into the tree he's paced past at least twenty times. "I'll need to talk to her first."

" _Perfectly fine. Take all the time you want. If you accept, I'll begin making arrangements. Now, onto lighter topics,"_ Birch loses his severe tone in favor of his usual joval one. _"Is there anything you need from me?"_

Lee thinks for a second. "Know any breeders who would give a discount to a Lab Trainer? Or any study grants the League might offer? I'm _not_ paying forty grand for one pokemon."


	21. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honey! It's 4pm! Time for your trash consumption!
> 
> A big thanks to NurseBold, Nicolas H, Tim M, ncskeeter56, Thomas D, Avo, S. Nutter, Lucy B, Lars H, Jesper B, Frogsamurai, Bunny Waffles, Lizard Messiah, Kalafalafakah, Fabhar, Zach C, Dicky W, Sashank U, Patrick I, MidnightJayguar, Tyric Gaias, No Thanks, Dominic C, Michael M, Yeno M, Jeremiah Z, Alex G, Meadow, Spencer S, Taylor V, Jeremy H, Dusks_Lantern, Ethan S, Ben, Scott E, Johnathan C, Josh T, Shawn L, marcellis97, 0The Fool, Arcaryx, Powernap, rooster196, and Johnathan D for being patrons.
> 
> An extra big thanks to Spartanstoryteller, Drekin, Teigen S, HyeoJ, Lennert B, K, PolarFlame, Andres, and Nighty for being high-level patrons.
> 
> Last but certainly not least, a very special thanks to BrokenOlive for being a top-level patron.
> 
> Want to support me? See https://www.patreon.com/fuggmann

* * *

Lee squints at the glare of the morning sun in the glass door of the Dewford Gym as he pushes the doors open, making sure to hold it open long enough that a still groggy Zinnia and almost-bouncing Brendan can follow behind him.

Strangely, the anticipation isn't nearly as bad as his first gym battle. Maybe it hasn't fully sunk in that his second Gym challenge is upon him, or maybe Birch's words from the day prior, about Vulpix's telepathy, is still bugging him too much for anything else to get a foothold.

' _Rich, powerful people would put their whole life-savings on the table to either buy her or pay a thief to steal her. They might even hurt you to get to her.'_

On his shoulder, Vulpix shoos the anxiety away simply by wrapping a little tighter around his neck. ' _*e c*n ***** ****t s**h ***n** l****,'_ she telepaths to him. Though much is lost in translation, her intention to soothe him is obvious.

Lee sighs and focuses on the here-and-now.

The Dewford Gym lobby is deserted, as to be expected since Lee took the 7am slot. The Gym is smaller and less extravagant than the Rustboro Gym, and the old but well cared for lobby reflects it. There are several seats off to the side with a few potted plants breaking the lines of chairs up. By the front desk, there is a trophy case filled with glittering gold cups and medals. On the other side of the desk, a table with an old coffee machine sits. Behind the front desk is a door labeled "Staff/Challengers only", offsetting the larger double-doors by the trophy-case saying "Arena Seating".

Zinnia breaks off from the group with a grumble, beelining for the coffee machine as Lee and Brendan walk to the front desk.

"Nervous?" Brendan asks Lee. "Brawly took over for his dad just a few years ago, but he's already considered to be really strong."

"Honestly? Not really..." Lee answers back as they wait before the desk. He leans back on the desk, being careful not to knock a large logbook off the side as he turns to face Brendan. "Whatever happens, happens. I've got confidence in my team."

Brendan gives the older trainer a sidelong look. "You sure? What's actually on your mind?"

The expected reply makes Lee falter some. "Er, nothing, really." At Brendan's raised brow, Lee sighs and relents. "Just an assignment your father gave me. The info is sensitive and I'm just trying to figure out how to best go about it."

The half-truth seems to satisfy the boy, who nods with a smile. "I getcha. If dad is okay with other people knowing, let me know and I'd be glad to help."

"You're a good kid, Brendan," Lee smiles, making the boy grin. "Now, where is the receptionist?"

Lee turns and looks at the front desk, not finding a bell or anything to call someone. He glances down to the logbook that his elbow almost knocked off, and finding his curiosity getting the better of him, he opens it.

Inside is a neat day planner filled with names, trainer IDs, and times. After a quick glance, it seems like Brawly takes six or seven challenges a day if he's in. One repeating name jumps out at him.

Andre.

Brendan looks at the book as well. "Andre? Isn't he the dick who you and Zinnia beat?"

"Yeah," Lee confirms, flipping through a few more pages.

It doesn't take long to find a pattern. Andre is the last match every other day going back for weeks. Turning a few pages forward, he finds the young Dark-type specialist has slots saved weeks in advance.

"The hell?" Lee mutters to himself, feeling Vulpix's bewilderment as well as she peers over his shoulder.

"Ahem..."

Lee, Vulpix, and Brendan freeze, looking away from the logbook as one.

Behind the front desk stands an older woman, probably in her fifties. Her light blue hair is tied back in a ponytail and her eyes, framed by slight wrinkles and a set of bifocals, stare at Lee and Brendan disapprovingly. "Perhaps you could not snoop through our schedule? I would be glad to disclose any relevant details if asked."

Brendan laughs nervously and shuts the book on Lee's behalf. "Ah... Sorry about that..."

The woman still clicks her tongue in disappointment. "See that it doesn't happen again. Now, can I help you two?"

"Yes, I'm Lee Henson and this is Brendan Birch," Lee tries to smile past his embarrassment. "We're scheduled to see Brawly for gym matches this morning?"

The woman makes a show of sharply lifting up the schedule book and slowly thumbing to the latest page. After silently scanning the page, she nods. "You'll be first, Mister Henson, followed by Mister Birch. Take a seat and you'll be called when Brawly is ready."

"Sure thing, ma'am! Thank you!" Lee smiles and quickly leads Brendan away with a hand on his shoulder. The pair take a seat in the corner waiting area as the woman vanishes behind the staff door.

"Jeez, that lady was something..." Brendan murmurs. "Why do you think that Andre guy is on the list so many times?"

"What about the brat?"

Lee, Brendan, and Vulpix look up when Zinnia takes a seat to the right of Brendan, a steaming cup held in her hand. Already, the dragon tamer looks to have much more life to her. She takes another sip from the cup in her hand as she waits for an answer.

"He's booked fights with Brawly for weeks in advance," Lee explains, leaning back in his chair. "Is he really getting beat every time?"

Zinnia shrugs and crushes the empty paper cup in her hand before tossing it in a trash can a few paces away. "Dark-type versus Fighting-type, so probably. Brawly probably knows the little shitheel's Detect gimmick and can counter it."

' _Now how does one effectively counter Detect, I wonder. Overwhelming speed? Run the clock like we did? Or is there a trick to beating it without wasting so much energy?'_ Lee internally muses with only Vulpix privy to his thoughts. "Probably," he agrees with Zinnia aloud.

The conversation peeters out into silence, neither Brendan or Zinnia making an effort to continue. Brendan sits with his two pokeballs in his lap as he pulls out his pokedex. He rapidly flips to the section on common Hoenn Fighting-types as he bounces his knee nervously.

Zinnia, meanwhile, seems content to withdraw her phone from her hip pouch and idly scroll through the news.

With nothing else to do and not wanting to think of the upcoming match, lest he make himself anxious, Lee thinks back to yesterday after the Granite Cave adventure.

* * *

_Again, Lee is struck by just how_ _**normal** _ _the squid and octopi in the tanks before him are. One octopus runs a tentacle over the glass, letting Lee see the little suction pads work in sync. He looks away from the glass to the myriad of other tanks in the clean, if dimly lit marina warehouse, finding all manner of unsettlingly familiar sealife. At his feet, Vulpix sits quietly. Lee can feel her displeasure as the fishy smell of the warehouse makes her nose tingle unpleasantly._

_Lee's call to Dewford Seafood Outlet the night prior was met with zero resistance from the enthusiastic owner, who accepted Lee's flimsy excuse of wanting to study mundane animals without a second thought. "Our establishment would love to host a trainer and Pokemon researcher of your esteem!" The man enthusiastically agreed, and Lee vaguely recalled his voice among the many he spoke to during the beach tournament. The man even had his employees go out and gather examples from the actual open-air farms that dominate a little corner of Dewford and bring the animals here in display tanks. With Lee, a boy in water waders marked 'DSO' stands several feet behind him, ready to answer any questions the trainer might have._

_No doubt this is all a stunt to curry favor with Lee, and thus the much more influential Hoenn Pokemon Lab, but the scarred trainer is grateful nonetheless._

_Lee looks down at his notebook, where notes on the animals before him and several crude sketches dominate the page. He slowly walks by the tanks with Vulpix following close, not paying his teenaged farmhand watcher any mind. He passes by a tank containing common bay clams, then a tank containing what looks like several dungeness crabs that scuttle about. Then a thought hits him._

" _Say, ah-" Lee turns and looks at the nametag on the teen boy's waders "-Jordan, do you know what species these crabs are?"_

_The boy jumps, apparently not expected to be addressed. "Oh, uh, these guys? They're just Dewford crabs I think. Some other places have different names for em, though."_

_Lee frowns at yet another unexplainable similarity. "And the octopi?"_

_The boy shrugs. "Uh... Dewford octopus?" His answer sounds more like a question._

" _Don't feel bad if you can't answer this one, but do you ever see any of these guys in the wild?" Lee gestures to the whole setup of display tanks._

" _Well, sometimes," Jordan rubs the back of his head with a hand. "Not often, though. Pokemon gobble up animals pretty fast."_

'If that's the case, then how did **any** animals live long enough to be domesticated? No books or websites seem to know.' _Lee feels a headache coming on and sighs. "Right, I should have guessed that. Is it okay with you if I run a quick experiment? It'll involve one of your bay clams being eaten."_

" _Sure, go ahead. Boss gave you free rein. If you're hungry, though, I can ask a supervisor if I can take you to the marina restaurant."_

" _Not for me, but thanks for the thought," Lee smiles. He removes one of his gloves and rolls his sleeve up, then reaches a hand into the tank of clams and withdraws one on the smaller side. Then he tosses the little mollusk into the octopus tank._

_One of the little invertebrates immediately comes to investigate the clam, it's little tentacles curiously wrapping around the invader. The octopus seems to realize what it has, and shuffles the clam to its mouth. With one venomous bite from the octopus' beak, the clam opens to its doom and is promptly eaten._

" _All very standard feeding behavior..." Lee murmurs. "It's almost like nothing changed, it's_ _ **too**_ _perfect..."_

* * *

Lee is drawn from his thoughts when he notices the throngs of people entering the gym heading for the Arena Seating door. Unlike Rustboro, there doesn't seem to be anyone checking tickets.

"Hey hey, guys!"

Beside Lee, Brendan looks up away from his pokedex, then his eyes light up. "Dad!"

Lee looks up as well, finding a smiling Professor Birch standing before them.

"When did you get here, dad?" Brendan can't help but grin like a loon and pocket his Dex and pokeballs before standing to greet his father. "And why?"

"Medicham teleported us this morning," Birch laughs. "Tuckered him out coming all this way, so he's resting right now. I was originally going to come out here to study bird pokemon inhabiting the seaside cliffs, but I figured I would come early to see my son and the lab's cashcow battle in the gym!"

"Oh, cashcow, am I?" Lee snorts and stands. "Gee, professor, glad to know you regard me so highly," he says, sarcasm woven into every word.

"Don't be like that, Lee," Birch mockingly chides. "Your and Miss Zinnia's big win at Dewford's tournament got us a full five percent increase in funding and a flood of independent donations. Keep up the good work, really." The scraggly professor then turns to the still sitting Zinnia with a pleasant smile. "And you must be Zinnia! Thank you for keeping an eye on the boys here."

The tanned woman openly laughs and stands, reaching out to take Birch's hand in a handshake. "It's a fulltime job, really. If your lab has any professional babysitter positions open..." she trails off coyly.

Birch shakes his head. "Afraid not, but it's not often I meet a Dragon type specialist. If any studies that need dragons with a paycheck come up, I'll have Brendan or Lee pass it along. Now!" He looks back to Lee, Vulpix, and Brendan. "It's been awhile since I've seen a good gym match, so you two give it your all, okay?"

"You know it!" Brendan exclaims while Lee just nods.

' _Boss is watching. No pressure...'_

"Oh, and before I forget!" Birch suddenly jumps, looking over to Lee. "Did you think over the offer of that study I proposed?"

Lee looks over to the fox on his shoulder, and she hesitates before shrugging her little shoulders. "We're... Still debating it, professor."

"Mister Henson!"

The older woman from before pokes her head out from behind the staff door. "Please come back here so we can get you ready. Your match will begin shortly."

"That's my cue," Lee begins, shaking away the excitement that makes his limbs tremble. "Wish us luck."

"Break a leg!" Zinnia laughs.

"You got this!" Brendan cheers.

Birch just smiles.

With Vulpix astride his shoulder, Lee follows the blue-haired woman behind the staff door to a barren waiting room with little more than a single chair and a small table holding a few water bottles, a box of nausea medicine, and a little box that is a mess of black wires. Just ahead of them is a large door labeled 'Arena'.

"Need anything to settle your stomach?" The still unnamed woman asks, peering at Lee over her glasses as she taps the little box of generic nausea pills with a finger.

Lee shakes his head. "I'm fine, thanks."

She nods. "Very well. One second here..." She turns to the box of wires on the desk and withdraws a little microphone unit, the same sort Lee used when giving lectures to zoo guests. Without bothering to ask, she clips the unit to one of his front pockets and clips the actual microphone to the collar of his shirt. "The range on that little contraption is narrow, so it'll only work in the marked trainer box in the arena. Keep that in mind."

"I will," Lee confirms. After a second of hesitation, Lee keeps speaking. "Ma'am? I know it's not my place to pry, so feel free to not answer, but what was with Andre having so many reserved matches?"

The woman pauses and looks at Lee with narrow eyes. "Why do you wish to know?"

"Well...?" The scarred man struggles to formulate an answer and rubs the back of his head. "Andre was our final opponent in the Brawl on the Beach, and his pokemon were top notch, but he seemed to have some sort of preconceived notions about me before we even battled, something about me being a failed trainer who ran away to Hoenn. That, combined with his obviously sour relationship with Brawly just... has me curious is all."

The woman sighs with disappointment and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Oh, Andre. Must you lash out at everyone who even looks similar to him? The world isn't out to get you." Her murmurs are too quiet for Lee to hear, but Vulpix telepathically feeds him what her ears pick up. Before Lee can puzzle out who 'he' might be, the woman looks up tiredly and pushes her glasses further up her nose. "Let me apologize for anything he might have said. Andre is rough, but he's a good boy at heart."

Lee nods along. "The condition of his pokemon speaks a lot about him."

"Indeed. Where are my manners? My name is Wilma, Brawly's mother, and manager of this gym," the now-named Wilma introduces herself with a slight incline of her head.

"Lee Henson and this is Vulpix, but I suppose you already knew that," Lee returns her courtesy.

Wilma inclines her head once more. "It's not my place to say much. Andre lives here in Dewford with us at the behest of his mother. He insists that he has something to prove in defeating Brawly's full-powered team, hence his spots on the schedule, but considering his fondness of Dark-types..."

"...It's an uphill battle," Lee finishes with a frown. The answers only muddle things more. "I see. Thank you. I won't pry anymore."

" _Welcome to the Dewford Gym! Today we've got an exciting lineup of trainers set to face your Gym Leader, Brawly!"_ A booming voice can be heard over the gym sound system, rattling the room.

There is muffled cheering behind the door leading to the arena.

"Looks like it's beginning," Wilma mutters. "Alright, young man," she addresses Lee. "When your name is called, head on out and stand in the box on your side of the field. The rest is self-explanatory. Ready?"

The zoologist takes a deep breath. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Good. Brawly will not be pulling his punches, so beware," the blue-headed woman warns before she pats his shoulder and leaves back to the front room.

" _Our first challenger this morning is a doozy! Coming from Little Root town, we have Lee Henson!"_

"Here goes nothing..." Lee sighs and walks out to be greeted by a wave of cheers.

The arena is almost a clone of the Rustboro Gym, only the ground is just hard-packed dirt with no rocks scattered around. The bleachers lining the arena are filled to the brim. Some of the more excited fans hold up signs. A few are for him and his team, and an amusingly large number for Brawly are held up by teen girls. Near the center of the right side, Brendan, The Professor, and Zinnia all sit and applaud Lee's and Vulpix's entrance.

Lee waves up to the crowd, and after a mental nudge to Vulpix, she raises a paw as well, easily doubling the roar of the crowd. _'Huh. This is much easier than the first few times.'_

' _J*** h**e ***fi**n** ** y*****lf'_ Vulpix snuffles in wane amusement.

" _Not only is he this year's Brawl on the Beach winner, but Lee is also a special researcher and Hoenn Lab Trainer under the esteemed Professor Birch! With Rustboro Gym's Stone badge already in hand, Lee is really going to give Brawly a run for his money!"_ The commentator's booming voice hypes the crowd up even more.

Off to the sides, a TV camera crew takes their place as a gym aide, and a pair of Drowzee, no doubt there to power the barrier, set up a few paces away. One member of the TV crew even releases a Magnemite from a pokeball, who levitates over the arena with a smaller camera hovering at its side.

Across the way, Brawly grins eagerly at Lee, and Lee can't help but grin back, excitement overwhelming everything else.

Finally, a referee in a black-and-white striped shirt makes his way to the field and clears his throat into his microphone, causing the chatter to die down. _"This match will be a two-on-two standard battle between challenger Lee Henson and Gym Leader Brawly. Matches will commence until one team has lost two members. Only the challenger may substitute, and may only do so once. Trainers!"_ The ref looks between Lee and Brawly. _"Please select your first pokemon!"_

' _No brainer on this one,'_ Lee thinks, taking Corvisquire's ball and expanding it. "Corvi, you're up!"

At the same time, Brawly takes a ball from his belt and throws it just as Lee does his. "Machoke! I need your help!"

Corvisquire bursts from his ball in a shower of white light, a chilling screech already echoing from his beak. The bird's red eyes gleam with malice as he hovers on their side of the field, eager to tear into a worthy opponent.

Brawly's Machoke appears in a flash of light just like Corvisquire. The Superpower pokemon stands six feet tall and is built like a brickhouse. Bulging muscle ripples under his thick, grey hide, and his five-fingered hands are already clenched into cannonball-like fists. The pokemon takes one look at Corvisquire and sighs in distaste.

" _It's wicked speed and mobility versus classic Dewford muscle! Corvisquire dominated his fights in the Brawl, but Machoke is an old hand on Brawly's personal team with a punch that can derail a train! This'll be a nailbiter!"_

" _Are both trainers ready!?"_ The referee picks up where the commentator left off.

"Ready!" Brawly calls, his voice echoing through the sound system.

' _I really hope that 'derail trains with a punch' line was hyperbole...'_ Lee takes a deep breath. "Ready!"

The Drowzee off to the side raise their hands and wiggle their fingers, raising a transparent barrier and locking the pokemon in the arena.

" _Begin!"_

"Corvi! Get up high and use Hone Claws!" Lee orders quickly.

Brawly and Machoke make no move to stop Corvisquire, who quickly rises to the ceiling. When Brawly smirks, Lee instantly hears alarm bells ringing in his head.

As Corvisquire raises his talons to grind them together, Brawly speaks. "Machoke! Rock Tomb!"

' _Oh fuck off with that.'_

Machoke drives his fingers into the ground, and with an effortless flex of his arm, pulls up a boulder larger than himself. He reels back his arm and throws the enormous rock with the same ease a human might a baseball while Corvisquire is mid-buff. A faint red glow overtakes the boulder, which cracks and splits into five smaller stones that rush the crow pokemon with menacing whistles.

"Abort and duck!" Lee orders frantically.

Corvisquire heeds his words with only a second to spare, sharply diving and twisting to fly between two of the stones he can't dive fast enough to avoid.

The Rock Tomb crashes against the barrier with a thunderous _bang!_

' _Not going to let us buff, huh? Then we'll just have to debuff you instead.'_

"Scary Face!" Lee calls out to his pokemon.

Corvisquire is in motion before Brawly or Machoke can react. His already irritated visage takes on a nightmarish twist, his eyes practically shining red. He opens his beak and lets out a shrill, bloodthirsty cry that makes Lee's spine stiffen. The sheer potency of Corvisquire's Scary Face almost makes a weight settle over the arena. From the corner of his eye, Lee spies several of the audience members rock back in fright.

Machoke stiffens and grits his teeth, sweat breaking out on his brow despite his best efforts to maintain his composure.

"Now, Hone Claws!"

"Machoke! Stop him with Rock Tomb!" Brawly is quick to bounce back.

Corvisquire rises once again and grinds his talons together, dropping glittering, metallic sparks below him.

Machoke gasps and suddenly realizes he was given an order. Arm still shaking, he plunges his fingers into the ground and lifts another boulder up before hastily tossing it, but by the time the rock is in the air, Corvisquire finishes sharpening all his natural weaponry and rolls out of the way of Rock Tomb.

"Corvi, move in with Extremespeed! Then Pluck!"

Lee can see Brawly curse under his breath. "Machoke! Be ready with Thunder Punch!

High above, the raven cackles and vanishes in a blinding burst of speed with the crack of displaced air being the only hint something was once there.

Machoke's right fist only just begins to crackle with electricity over before a razor-sharp beak is driven into his back. The Fighting-type pokemon roars in pain and whirls around like a top, his fist lashing out in a backhand.

Corvisquire can't avoid the partially electrified fist in time and takes the blow to his sternum like a cannonball. The raven's eyes bulge as he's thrown all the way into the left barrier wall with a dull _thud!,_ drawing a wince from the onlookers. Corvisquire wheezes and forces his way back to his feet, his face drawn back into a scowl.

"Corvi! You alright?!" Lee asks. When the bird looks at him with an expression that clearly says _What do you think?,_ the man feels a little foolish.

"Man, I knew that Corvisquire was fast, but that's something else..." Brawly says aloud. "Machoke, square up!"

The Fighting-type stands and brings his fists up in a ready stance, now seemingly ignoring the wound in his back.

' _Fast huh? Brawly battles that monster Absol all the time though. Does Corvisquire edge him out?'_ Lee's mind quickly churns. _'Brawly probably didn't start with his ace, no, I'm sure Machoke is not his ace. An ace that has probably clashed with Absol over and over... That in mind...'_

"Ref! I'm substituting Corvisquire!" Lee calls to the ref, who just nods and presses a little button on his mic, causing an airhorn to blare out over the speakers

" _It looks like Lee is using his substitution!"_ The commentator calls. _"Why sub now? And who will he send in?"_

Across the arena, Brawly raises an eyebrow and Machoke lowers his fists just the slightest amount.

' _Grovyle still needs to get used to his new body, so you're up, girl,'_ Lee sends to Vulpix, who mentally reviews his plan with a nod and slides down from his shoulders. He draws Corvisquire's ball and recalls the raven in a flash of red light. The entire time, Corvisquire wears a betrayed, furious expression.

Lee holds the shaking ball close to his mouth. "No need to be so upset, I'm saving you for the tougher battle. You'll get your time to shine," he whispers quietly.

The displeased shaking calms.

" _It looks like Lee is sending in Vulpix! How will this little fox compare to Machoke?"_

Vulpix calmly walks her way into the arena through a little hole in the barrier that closes behind her, sealing her inside.

" _Match restarting in three, two, one..!"_ The ref sounds the horn again.

"Vulpix, Baby-Doll Eyes!" Lee rapidly orders. _'Then charge Confuse Ray.'_

"Machoke, look away!" Brawly reacts near instantly.

Machoke tries to look away as Vulpix's eyes shine an eerie pink, but the move is just too fast and seeing a split second is enough to force Machoke's muscles to slacken. He groans and his shaking becomes visible.

"Bulk Up!" is Brawly's follow up. "Then Karate Chop! No more playing defense!"

Machoke takes a deep breath and flexes every muscle in his body at once, and he's back to looking like Baby-Doll Eyes never hit him. Then he drops down into a runner's stance and charges Vulpix like an Olympic sprinter, eating the distance between them in a scant second.

' _Confuse Ray!'_

Vulpix smirks a vulpine smirk as her eyes glow yet again.

Machoke can barely even react before he trips in his sudden confusion. He falls face-first to the dirt and his momentum drags him painfully across the ground, digging up a shallow trench behind him. The crowd lets out a collective wince.

" _What happened?! Why did Machoke suddenly lose his footing?!"_

Brawly face morphs into open surprise.

Did Roxanne not tell him about their telepathy? Oh well, now is not the time to be dwelling on that.

"Vulpix, Will-O-Wisp!"

The vixen plants her feet and opens her mouth, a white-hot orb forming between her jaws. She rears her head back and throws the ball forward with a dramatic flourish.

"Machoke! Listen to my voice! Dodge it!" Brawly orders

Machoke, even in his confused haze realizes the danger and tries to stand. His powerful legs let him leap well over twenty feet to the side, where he lands in a boneless heap with a grunt.

It's for naught, however, as the slow Will-O-Wisp makes a perfect ninety-degree turn to follow.

With a growl, Machoke rolls to his back at Brawly's order. Then; "Machoke! Intercept Will-O-Wisp with Ice Punch!"

Machoke's right fist frosts over with a layer of blue ice, and with either luck or sheer, confusion-overpowering willpower, his fist rockets forward and smashes into Will-O-Wisp with a loud hiss of steam, throwing up a cloud of vapor that obscures him.

Brawly clicks his tongue and sighs.

"Don't let him have any time to breathe! Ember!" Lee follows up.

A barrage of fireballs fly from Vulpix's mouth and spread themselves out into a wide net to cover the entire steam cloud. They fly through the steam with minute hissing sounds, dispersing the mist after just a second, revealing no Machoke there, only a hole in the ground.

' _What?'_

Neither Lee nor Vulpix can react in time when a huge fist bursts from the ground right below Vulpix, socking her right in the chin so hard that she is sent flying straight up in the air with a yelp.

The crowd roars at the titanic hit.

Lee bites back a cry when his own jaw and teeth suddenly flare with Vulpix's pain, and several of his teeth feel as if they're broken. The tang of non-existent blood coats his tongue. With great reluctance, he closes his side of their telepathic bond just enough to reduce the pain to a minor ache. "V-Vulpix! Reposition with Quick Attack!" Lee grounds out, sending her a mental landing point.

The fox twists midair and pushes away the stars in her vision to zig-zag down to Brawly's side of the field where she lands and tries to shake off the super-effective hit. Lee re-widens their connection and winces when he ghosts over her senses. She was hit so hard that she's seeing double, her ears are ringing, and at least one of her teeth is broken. The rapid swelling in her jaw only makes the tooth pain worse.

' _You alright to keep going, love?'_

She huffs.

Machoke pulls himself out of the ground and stands tall, his eyes now clear. His right hand is raw and burnt, his torso is a mess of less severe steam burns, and the stab in his back still bleeds, but the pokemon is unbowed. He even flexes his injured arm to the crowd, drawing cheers.

" _What a turn! Machoke proves his power with a huge hit using Dig! Poor Vulpix nearly had her lights knocked out!"_

Brawly smirks. "You two aren't the only sneaky ones!" He yells across the battlefield to Lee.

He knows, and has nonverbal signals of his own.

Shit.

"Fine then, no stops." Lee grunts. ' _Vulpix, get ready,'_ he sends, falling into her psychic embrace with ease. Lee feels his own body become slightly numb as he pours his being into her. _'Ember!'_

Vulpix rears her head back with a quiet breath, and even behind the barrier, Lee can feel the temperature of the arena spike by several degrees. Then she throws her head forward and unleashes a veritable storm of fireballs, easily thrice the volume of before with twice the speed. The sound is akin to an automatic rifle burning through its entire magazine, fitting considering the Embers are little more than bullet-like streaks.

Machoke and Brawly's eyes widen as one, and Machoke is already in motion when Brawly's mouth opens to yell; "Detect! Then close in and cut her off with Revenge!"

Vulpix's large foe leaps to the side, left hand already crackling with red energy, but he's forced back further when the Embers swerve mid-flight to scream right at him. He ducks under one stream only to dance backward as another blasts at his feet. His charged Revenge is used to swat away several fireballs that he isn't fast enough to avoid. Then his back hits the corner of the barrier.

' _Gotcha.'_

Vulpix and Lee, working in sync, pyrokinetically spread the Embers out in a net spaced perfectly to catch Machoke. As one, all the fireballs descend like demented wasps.

With nowhere to dodge and out of time to use a move, Machoke can only squeeze his eyes shut and raise his arms in defense.

One Ember explodes against his arms and Machoke grits his teeth.

Two, three, four, five, six, and the Fighting-type groans.

Seven, eight, nine, ten, twenty, thirty, and he can't help but cry out as smoke overtakes his form.

Forty, fifty, seventy, and finally the last one strikes and detonates.

"Machoke!" Brawly cries out, his eyes wide and disbelieving.

The crowd waits with bated breath as the smoke slowly clears, and when it does, it shows them all Machoke, slumped against the wall with his eyes closed and body covered in burns.

"Hey, Machoke, buddy! Can you get up!?" Brawly calls, his fists clenched tightly.

Other than the harsh rise and fall of his chest, Machoke does not move.

Three, two, one...

The airhorn overhead sounds and the referee waves his arms. _"It's over! Machoke is unable to battle! Vulpix is the winner of round one!"_

Lee sighs and drifts away from Vulpix's psyche back to his own as she trots back to their side of the field. His limbs feel the slightest bit unsteady for a moment until he reorients himself. A smile is worn on his face the entire time, however.

The audience erupts into applause and cheering, though Lee can spy a few of the teenaged die-hard Brawly fans adding boos into the noise.

Across the way, the Gym Leader pulls a pokeball from his belt and recalls Machoke in a flash of red. He stares down at the ball blankly, as if he didn't actually expect to lose. Then he huffs out a short laugh and replaces it on his belt, this time taking a greatball from his belt. Even from this distance, Lee can see the top hemisphere of the pokeball is worn down to bare metal in places.

"I gotta hand it to you, Lee. That was something," The surfer smiles. "It shows me I've still got plenty to improve on. Machoke won't go down to a ranged fighter so easily next time. This pokemon, though..." He holds the worn greatball up. "He belonged to my father and was passed down to me when I took the mantle of Gym Leader. He's helped me a lot over the years, and I've stepped away from borrowing his power, but I know when I need help out of a bind."

Lee feels his smile sink a little. "I don't like the sound of that."

Brawly's smile morphs into a wide grin. "It's good to be cautious!" He glances at the ref, who gets the signal.

" _Gym Leader Brawly! Please select your next pokemon!"_

Brawly throws the greatball past a hole in the barrier. "Hariyama! I need your help!"

The ball bursts open, and a shape wreathed in white light expands onto the field, growing bigger.

And bigger, and bigger...

When the light finally fades, Lee finds himself blinking in disbelief, but the spike of alarm he both feels from Vulpix and sees on her vulpine face tells him his eyes aren't failing him.

Standing over eight feet tall and easily eleven feet wide with his arms spread out, an absolutely gargantuan pokemon stares them down.

The Hariyama before them looks just as Lee remembers them, being a roughly humanoid sumo wrestler of unbelievable proportions. Two-toed feet attached to legs as thick as tree trunks hold a massive torso of pure muscle aloft. His short arms end in wide, flat three-fingered hands perfect for arm-thrusting attacks. But what strikes Lee most is the little details littered across the huge pokemon.

The Hariyama's eyes are framed by faint wrinkles, and the left eye is a blind, foggy white, probably owing to the scar dragged through Hariyama's face. His hands are likewise marked, his palms a menagerie of calluses and scars, leaving almost no unharmed flesh behind.

Lee's dread-filled musings are broken when Hariyama grunts, a low sound that Lee feels in both his and Vulpix's chest. The enormous pokemon puts his palms on his knees and raises a single leg, then he brings it down like a lightning strike, shaking the entire gym. The lights above rattle, someone in the crowd screams, and one of the cameramen falls over. Lee himself bends his knees to not be knocked over.

Hariyama raises his other leg and brings it down again, pulverizing the ground under him and rattling the entire building again. Then with his knees still bent, he plants a hand on the ground, taking a sumo-like ready stance. An almost tangible weight settles over the arena, eerily like standing before Steven Stone's Metagross.

' _We're fucked.'_

"Get ready," Brawly's smile could light up the arena if Hariyama's preparation accidentally knocked the lights out. "We're going full tilt!"

" _Match two, Hariyama vs Vulpix, begin!"_

For a moment, no one moves, and it gives Vulpix ample time to pull Lee back into her mind for his added strength.

' _Love, while I'm not doubting your abilities, there is no way you can beat him after Machoke nailed you with Dig,'_ Lee gulps. _'We need to wear him down as much as possible for Corvisquire.'_

"Not going to move first, eh?" The Gym Leader nods. "Fine by us. Hariyama! Belly Drum!"

' _Fuck! Confuse Ray!'_

Vulpix growls and fires off the invisible, sinister ray from her shining eyes.

Hariyama draws his huge hands back, then pounds his own stomach with a series of deep _thuds._ The sound Belly Drum makes moves something primal inside of Vulpix, and Lee can feel her sudden thrill of fear.

The pupil of Hariyama's one good eye dilates, and a hazy cloak of red energy diffuses from nowhere to cover his form. He slows for a moment as Confuse Ray strikes him, leaving his eye unfocused, but after a single blink, the confusion vanishes and Hariyama finishes Belly Drum with a loud, echoing strike to his own abdomen. The cloak of red, smoky energy surges and crackles.

"From bad to worse," Lee grimaces. _'Vulpix, Ember! Come in on his blind side!'_

Like before, Vulpix draws her head back and fires off a stream of Embers more akin to laser bolts than fireballs.

Some rush Hariyama from the right, but the majority of the flames twist and curve into his blindspot.

"Whirlwind!" Brawly orders.

Hariyama's arms are little more than blurs as his flat hands move the air like fans, kicking up rushing currents of tornado-like winds on both sides of him. Vulpix's Embers, even empowered by pokemon and trainer working in tandem, are snuffed out like candles in the face of the Whirlwinds.

_Then Hariyama thrusts his arms forward, merging the Whirlwinds and sending a titanic tornado right for Vulpix._

The tornado gains power as it moves, dragging in all manner of dirt and rocks as it howls furiously at the shocked fox. It crosses the arena in less than a second, and by then, the tornado is _too big to dodge._ Vulpix screws her eyes shut in panic.

" **Firespin**!" Lee screams, both in body and mind. _'_ _ **Counter Whirlwind's rotation**_ _!'_

Vulpix's eyes snap open, shining a hellish orange.

A spiraling inferno pours from Vulpix's throat, and in an instant, Whirlwind is met with a twisting, raging tower of fire that roars just as loud as the Whirlwind shrieks. The two elements meet, and Whirlwind begins to peter out as it feeds the vicious Firespin, which grows into a seething wall of white, spinning hellfire that splashes against the top of the barrier.

Lee can't see Brawly or Hariyama or even hear anything over the din of Firespin, but he does see the attack rush forward and engulf the other side of the field.

Sadly, Vulpix's burst of might runs dry after a scant ten seconds.

Firespin dies near-instantly, leaving a cloud of smoke and deafening silence behind.

When the smoke clears on the Brawly's side of the field, it reveals Hariyama standing with his arms raised and blackened, burn-coated palms out. Grunting, he slowly and painfully pulls his arms back into a ready stance, revealing that his body is pockmarked by smaller, less severe burns that overtook his defense. Around his feet in a perfect V formation is charred dirt and soot, meaning he stopped the Firespin.

Even with the unmistakable power Vulpix displayed in her battle with Corvisquire, Hariyama _stopped_ Firespin.

" _Jumping Joltiks, folks! Vulpix unleashed the fire within and turned Whirlwind right back around on Hariyama, but Hariyama was having none of that!"_ The audience goes wild when the commentator breaks the ice.

Vulpix wavers on her paws, and Lee can easily feel her exhaustion. She pants harshly and falls to her rump.

"Hariyama," Brawly hesitates for a second. "Force Palm!"

The massive sumo pokemon thrusts a hand forward, shooting a screaming shockwave that crosses the field like a tank shell.

Vulpix scrambles up and leaps away, but the explosion Force Palm makes when it hits the ground she was standing on throws her down to her side where she tumbles. Another Force Palm flies from Hariyama's hand and crashes into her like a missile, throwing the limp fox head-first into the barrier with a painful _thunk._ She slides to the ground, her breathing shallow and body unmoving.

Lee winces. Already he feels the phantom pain in his sternum and head fading, meaning his vixen is in blissful unconsciousness, but it does nothing for the deeper hurt in his chest whenever Vulpix is harmed _. 'She's just knocked out. Nothing she can't handle,'_ he silently reminds himself. With great reluctance, he catches the eyes of the referee and shakes his head.

The airhorn sounds and the referee raises his arm. _"Vulpix is unable to battle! Hariyama is the winner of the second match!"_

The crowd applauds and cheers. As Lee recalls Vulpix to her ball and near silently murmurs how proud he is of her, he scans the crowd. Almost instantly, he finds who he's looking for.

Brendan, Birch, and Zinnia all sit near the middle of the right side. Brendan's face is one of open shock as if he can't believe what he just saw. Zinnia's is harder to pin, being a combination of surprise and worry rather than the calculating expression she normally wears when viewing an intense battle. Birch...

Birch's eyes are glued to Lee, and in his lap is a notebook with several full pages already flipped. The look is so intense that the younger man looks away.

" _Challenger, please select your next pokemon!"_

Lee grabs Corvisquire's ball, which wiggles in anticipation. Like before, he holds the ball close to his mouth to whisper to it. "Corvi, whatever you do, take this seriously. This guy tanked Vulpix at her full power, even after hurting himself with Belly Drum. He's torn up, but this is still an uphill fight. If we want to win, we need to play smart, got it?"

The ball goes still.

With a deep breath, Lee reels his hand back. "Go! Corvisquire!"

The ball flies from his hand and releases the raven pokemon, who screeches and flies into the arena when a hole in the barrier opens up for him. He glares down at Hariyama with malicious glee, and Hariyama stares back cooly with his working eye.

" _Final match! Corvisquire versus Hariyama! Begin!"_

"Swift!" Lee orders to feel out Hariyama.

Corvisquire caws and swipes a golden, glowing wing through the air, throwing a wave of shining stars down at the sumo pokemon.

Hariyama just swats the stars out of the air with a single broad hand when they approach. Some of the burnt flesh on his hand cracks and bleeds when the Swift rays explode against it, but he ultimately seems unbothered.

"Force Palm!" Brawly counters, his smile growing.

Hariyama's massive palm flashes forward, and a rippling shockwave rushes the raven pokemon.

"Corvi! Extremespeed into Pluck! Get out of there!" Lee cries.

The raven vanishes from sight with a crack of displaced air, letting Force Palm smash into the barrier behind where he was.

Hariyama whirls around one hundred and eighty degrees with speed that should have been impossible for a creature of his size, his palm lashing out the _instant_ Corvisquire appears behind him. The raven is so shocked that he loses focus on his Pluck and his beak loses its glow. An instant later, Hariyama's palm strikes him like a battering ram.

Corvisquire is thrown into the barrier without an arc to his flight, crashing into the invisible wall with a _bang!_ that rattles the whole thing and a plume of loose feathers. His eyes bug out from the impact and he can only wheeze in pain. Unlike with the blow from Machoke, Covisquire is much slower to get to his feet.

"Don't let up! Close in and end this with Close Combat!" Brawly orders, even pointing a finger for emphasis.

Hariyama grunts and thunders forward like a locomotive, every step shaking the Gym.

"Corvi, get up!" Lee urges. "C'mon! Don't go down like this!"

Corvisquire's eyes light up hatefully, and with a shrill cry he shoots up into the air away from Hariyama with a single powerful wingbeat.

Hariyama doesn't stop his charge, and with a stomp that rocks the building, he leaps right at the bird pokemon in stark defiance to gravity. His hands shine a baleful red just like the cloak of energy still wrapped around him. He winds up an arm thrust just as Corvisquire flies up higher.

It's almost too quiet to hear, but Hariyama grunts something that makes Corvisquire's entire face twist into a rictus of loathing, and rather than run away out of Close Combat's range, the raven howls and dives right at the sumo pokemon, making Lee's heart sink.

Corvisquire narrowly dodges one arm thrust, but the other one clips his wing with a quiet _snap_ that Lee almost doesn't hear, making Corvisquire spin in the air unevenly. Nonetheless, Corvisquire's beak lights up with sky-blue Flying energy that he brutally drills right into Hariyama's left shoulder, drawing blood.

"Hariyama!" Brawly yells in alarm, his smile dropping for the first time in the match.

The sumo growls and slaps away Corvisquire like one might do a mosquito as gravity takes its hold again and drags him back down.

Corvisquire contorts his body mid-air and flares both his wings, even the broken one, to stop in a hover. His face shows no pain, only seething, burning anger.

Hariyama crashes into the ground feet-first, throwing up a short plume of dust. His good eye glares up at Corvisquire, who stares right back without wavering. Hariyama raises his hands into a ready stance again, but his left arm shakes and sinks ever so slightly.

' _Corvi's attack must have nicked something important in his shoulder...'_ Lee silently theorizes. _'He's blind and now partially lame on that side. We need to take advantage of it now, before Corvi's rage-fueled adrenaline runs dry... Can he safely use Extremespeed? If I dare even imply that he's not fighting-ready, he'll be pissed... More than usual.'_

"Corvisquire, Extremespeed!" Lee orders. "Hit him where it hurts!" he says, silently hoping his pokemon knows how to interpret the order.

"Hariyama, behind you!" Brawly yells in advance. "Arm Thrust him into the wall!"

Again, the avian pokemon blurs into motion as if his wing was never injured, and again, Hariyama turns a perfect one-eighty to catch him.

Only this time, Corvisquire appears above him. Before the Fighting-type can defend himself, Corvisquire, cackling like a villain, is upon him. He drives his beak right into the same wound on Hariyama that he created earlier and cruelly twists at whatever he can bite.

The larger pokemon roars in pain, his first sign of weakness the whole match, and swats at Corvisquire, who blurs away again with a cackling laugh. The strength in Hariyama's shaking left arm wanes, and he can't raise it up any higher than his waist.

"Stay angry, Corvi! Win this! Come at him again!" Lee calls, the excitement from earlier beginning to grow in his chest.

"Hariyama, watch your left and above you, that's where they're coming!" Brawly instructs.

' _Corvisquire is a little too smart to hit the same location three times in a row.'_ Lee smiles. _'Hariyama is too slow to keep up, so if he doesn't know where Corvi is going from...'_

A caw echoes through the room and Hariyama turns to his left, his good arm blasting forward at nothing. At the same time, a twirling beak shining a sky-blue drills into his upper right arm, savaging the muscle and connective tissue.

' _...Then he's going to get picked apart.'_

Hariyama growls and swings at Corvisquire, who once again backs off with Extremespeed.

"Bring him down!" Brawly's face is now losing confidence and his fists are balled up. "Whirlwind!"

A broad right hand swipes through the air, kicking up a huge gale, but not anywhere near the tornado that ravaged the arena earlier. With a flick of his wrist, Hariyama throws the Whirlwind forward.

The raging wind tears at the flying blur that is Corvisquire, slowing him enough that his form becomes visible once more. He struggles to not be sucked into the Whirlwind as his broken wing just can't flap with the same power of his unbroken one. The Whirlwind passes and dissipates, but to Lee's despair, he can see Corvisquire's energy beginning to flag. The bird pants and even his ever-present wrath slowly begins to fade

"Force Palm, knock him down!" Brawly's voice shocks Lee out of his thoughts.

Hariyama's eyes narrow in concentration as his right fingers flex, and he throws a shock wave right at the hovering Corvisquire, who just barely dodges by folding his wings and plunging from the sky. Force Palm smacks the barrier with much less force than earlier.

"Corvi, finish him! One more Extremespeed! You can do it!" Lee calls up to the raven.

"No you don't! Defend yourself with Whirlwind!" Brawly counters.

Corvisquire rushes forward just as Hariyama draws his hand back, and that's when Lee knows they lost.

Hariyama spins around, Whirlwind following his palm and wreathing him in a cloak of swirling, protective air.

Then Lee's jaw drops.

Corvisquire pulls up at an angle that rips at his broken wing, making the bird grimace as he flies directly up, abreast the Whirlwind, then he flies over the mouth and drops down right at his foe. He closes his injured wing and holds his good one out, letting the air currents in the Whirlwind spin him up like a drill. His beak bursts into an eye-searingly bright blue just as vibrant as the sky, and then like a screaming missile, he drops onto Hariyama in a full-powered Drill Peck.

The sumo pokemon's eyes widen, and in a last-ditch effort to defend himself, he pulls back his right arm and thrusts it at the raven with a roar.

Beak meets palm, and Flying meets Fighting in a contest as old as the pokemon world.

The whole tornado glows with the clash, crackling red versus screaming blue. Blue overtakes red, and the Flying energy overpowers the Fighting with an explosion that kicks up a huge cloud of dust.

The entire arena holds its breath.

Slowly, the dust settles, and Lee's heart sinks.

Prone on the ground, a broken and battered Corvisquire lay, his eyes closed and unconscious face peaceful. Scattered around the bird are broken stones and loose feathers. Then Lee's eyes look further.

Just as knocked out as his raven, Hariyama lays on the destroyed and cratered ground with only his breathing as any indication that he's alive. Behind Hariyama, Brawly's eyes are wide in boldfaced surprise.

Above, the airhorn sounds.

" _That's it! Round three ends in a double knockout! This battle is a draw!"_ The referee calls.

The audience goes wild, everyone standing, shouting, clapping, and more than a few cellphones are held up, some of which flash with camera lights.

"A... draw?" Lee wonders, his mind flashing back to the League rulebook he is still trying to finish. What was the end result of draws? Was it the challenger's loss? "Damn..."

Slowly, the Gym Leader on the other side of the arena smiles a big, goofy smile. "Wow! That was awesome! Hariyama hasn't had to fight that hard in years!" He draws the battered greatball from his belt and points to his pokemon. "Hariyama, return!"

The behemoth of a pokemon is withdrawn in a flash of red, leaving behind a crater that several grown men could stand in easily without touching shoulders.

Lee licks his lips and mirrors Brawly, taking Corvisquire's ball from his belt before recalling the bird in a flash of red. He shrinks the ball and holds it gently in his hands. "Thank you for going above and beyond, Corvi. Be a pain in my ass all you want, I won't ever give up on you because I know you would do the same for me, even if you deny it..."

A few onlookers audibly go "Awww...", and that's when Lee realizes his mic is still on with a blush. He flips it off and starts walking when the barriers drop and Brawly begins walking to meet him.

Both men meet in the middle of the devastated field. Still grinning widely, the blue-headed trainer claps Lee on the shoulder. "Now _that_ was the battle I wanted. I knew it would be good, just not _that_ good. It's going to be a while before someone tops this one."

Lee sighs and smiles ruefully. "Well, you're getting more here soon, so don't worry too much. We've got a ways to go now that you've seen our best tricks firsthand."

The Gym Leader blinks. "Huh?"

"I'll schedule the next one here in a week or two. We'll win then, it's a promise," Lee smiles and turns to leave for the Pokemon Center, but Brawly doesn't let go of his shoulder.

"I don't know why you're leaving," Brawly's smile grows a little. "You need this first," he says, holding out his hand.

In the surfer's hand is a shining Knuckle Badge

Lee feels his mouth go dry. "Hold on, that was a draw, not a win."

"Maybe," Brawly smirks. "But my Gym Leader authority says I get to choose the win condition for our match, and after a showing like that? You're the winner here, dude. Take it, you earned it."

Slowly, Lee reaches out to take the badge.

"But!"

Lee's hand stops.

Brawly's eyes shine with mischief. "On the condition that I get a rematch next time you're in Dewford."

The scarred trainer lets out a short laugh. "I can do that."

Lee's hand raises the badge up for everyone to see, and the crowd roars their approval.

* * *

"At least four days with no strenuous activity and at least six with no battles, Mister Henson," Dewford's Nurse Joy hands Lee the pokeballs he turned in just half an hour prior. "Your Corvisquire's wing suffered two breaks and he'll be exhausted for at least a full day. Vulpix, however, will be fine with a day or so of rest. Next time..." The nurse's hands fall to her hips and her pretty face frowns. "...Don't push your pokemon so hard."

"I'll try, nurse," Lee promises with a sheepish smile. "For a while there, Corvi was keeping himself in the air by sheer force of anger alone."

The joke seems to go over Nurse Joy's head, but at Lee's side, Zinnia snorts back a laugh. "Hhehe..." She clears her throat. "C'mon," she elbows Lee. "Let's go find a good spot to watch Shrimpy's match."

The pair stroll away from the Center's front desk to a waiting area in the corner with a large, wraparound couch that faces a wall-mounted TV. Several other trainers ranging from young adults to teens watch Brendan's match on the TV closely. Beside one of the trainers, a Ralts sits on the edge of the couch and kicks her feet.

Thankfully, Brendan wasn't upset when Lee left to take care of his pokemon... So long as the older trainer promised to watch the match remotely. Brendan just stuck his tongue out at Zinnia when she left with Lee.

Zinnia and Lee watch Marshtomp overpower Brawly's Hitmonchan when the fists of the two pokemon meet again. Hitmonchan grits his teeth as the grinning Marshtomp pushes him back.

Earlier, Shroomish battled Brawly's Mienfoo and wore down the weasel-like Fighting-type enough that Marshtomp could steamroll him. Now Marshtomp and Brawly's Hitmonchan are locked in a slugfest where Hitmonchan is losing steam. Meanwhile, Marshtomp only gets more eager the more bruises he accumulates.

"Think he'll win?" Zinnia wonders aloud.

"Brendan?" Lee asks with a smile. "Hitmonchan is on borrowed time." He watches Marshtomp take an Ice Punch to the face from Hitmonchan, only to laugh and lash out with a punch of his own that makes Hitmonchan double over.

"Say, Zinnia? That freighter we sailed with last time. Do they do runs to Slateport?

"I think so. Why?" Zinnia turns and blinks at him.

Lee draws his phone from his pocket and opens the browser, typing in the name of the cargo company they rode with. "It's where we're heading next."


	22. Interlude 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thanks to NurseBold, Nicolas H, Tim M, ncskeeter56, Thomas D, Avo, S. Nutter, Lucy B, Lars H, Jesper B, Frogsamurai, Bunny Waffles, Lizard Messiah, Kalafalafakah, Fabhar, Zach C, Dicky W, Sashank U, Patrick I, MidnightJayguar, Tyric Gaias, No Thanks, Dominic C, Michael M, Yeno M, Jeremiah Z, Alex G, Meadow, Spencer S, Taylor V, Jeremy H, Dusks_Lantern, Ethan S, Ben, Scott E, Johnathan C, Josh T, Shawn L, marcellis97, 0The Fool, Arcaryx, Powernap, rooster196, Johnathan D, Sukaleska, Ampharos3, Nick R, Tiemi, and Fire Golem321 for being patrons.
> 
> An extra big thanks to Spartanstoryteller, Drekin, Teigen S, HyeoJ, Lennert B, K, Andres, Nighty, Stays Secret, and Paul F for being high-level patrons.
> 
> Last but certainly not least, a very special thanks to BrokenOlive for being a top-level patron.
> 
> Want to support me? See https://www.patreon.com/fuggmann

' _My office has so much wasted space,'_ Steven Stone silently muses to himself. _'Do I really need an entire floor to myself up here?'_

In the extravagant Champion's office at the top of Hoenn's Pokemon League HQ, Steven looks down at the bustling island city of Ever Grande from the wall-spanning window, watching all the people and pokemon below. Looking away to the west, he can see the faintest hint of Sootopolis's top rim on the horizon.

Oh, how he longs to dive deep into the waters of the crater city and find bits of the meteorite that formed said crater over a millennia ago. What secrets and wonder would the meteorite hold? Would it hold an interesting mix of earthly elements, or would it show him something alien and exciting? Alas, the rock-headed members of the Sootopolis city council are adamant that the entire lakebed is a historical landmark and denied his requests to excavate samples.

It would be child's play to overrule them and go anyway, but no one would be amused by a Champion flagrantly abusing their power like that. The Steel specialist shakes his head in disgust, thinking of Unova's Champion, Alder, and the recent scandals the man has been involved in.

"Perhaps when I pass the title to someone else I could go to Sootopolis not as Steven the Champion, but Steven the Devon heir..." He smiles and fingers the mega keystone crowning his lapel pin.

' _Ruminating on the meteorite once more?'_

The rumbling voice comes not from anywhere in the office, but in his head, making Steven smile a little wider and turn around.

Standing before his desk and gleaming in the sunlight, Metagross regards Steven impassively.

"That I am, friend," Steven smiles a little wider. "A mere sliver of it would tell us so many things about the larger universe out there. It makes my skin tingle just thinking about it!"

If Metagross had eyebrows, Steven is sure one would be raised. _'I understand your fascination,'_ the pokemon 'says' dryly, but sincerely. _'But perhaps you can daydream another time. You have fifty-four unfinished forms to review, and a meeting with the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four in four minutes and seven seconds.'_

Steven looks down at his opulent oak desk. In the corner where his paperwork sits in two piles, the 'In' section has a stack of thick folders several inches high, and the 'Out' has only two.

"I really need to gather a task force to review what gets sent to me. So much of this is junk or just redundant," the Devon heir sighs and sinks into his plush office chair as Metagross just chuckles, a sound so deep it rumbles the floor. Faintly in the back of his mind, Steven feels his pokemon's _amusement_. It's no greater than a tickle, but the alien feeling, so far removed from what a human might ever feel or even perceive to be emotion, makes his skin break out into goosebumps.

Steven jiggles the mouse of his computer to pull it from sleep mode and opens his email, silently groaning when he finds yet another hundred or so waiting to be read. He ignores them for now and opens his calendar, clicking on a meeting link within. From there, he mutes his microphone and leans back.

Rarely do they ever need his input, and he doubts today will be any different.

Over the next few minutes, several other names pop up on his computer screen. First is Roxanne, ever punctual and the usual leader of these meetings. Petalburg's Norman is next, with Mauville city's Wattson following shortly after, Sootopolis Gym Leader and Steven's best friend, Wallace is next. Dewford's Brawly, Fortree's Winona, and Mossdeep's Liza/Tate pop in one after another. The Elite Four- Sidney, Phoebe, Glacia, and Drake all enter at once, no doubt using a meeting room a few floors below Steven. The only one missing is...

"Is Moore having computer troubles again?" Norman's faintly amused voice asks, the microphone icon by his name flashing.

"Seems like it," Wattson laughs. "The old coot can barely work a toaster."

Sidney's scoff conveys his sneer better than any camera feed could. "Maybe he should retire rather than waste our time."

"No need to be hostile," Roxanne jumps in to play mediator at the first sign of trouble. "I'm sure he'll figure it out."

Just as Rustboro's Gym Leader says that, the name, Moore - Lavaridge, appears on the screen.

"There you go, grandpa. It just needed a reboot I think," the sound of a young woman's voice comes from Moore's icon.

"Thank you, dear. Damn computers, they were easier back then, I swear..." An older man's voice comes from Moore now. "Sorry, everyone! The old confuser was on the fritz!"

"It's no problem, Moore. Thank you," Roxanne says quickly before a certain someone can sling an insult. "If we're all here, let's begin. Moore? You said you had big news?"

"I do!" The old man laughs. "I am both happy and a little sad to announce that I'll be retiring this year and handing the Gym over to my granddaughter, Flannery."

There are murmurs of surprise over the line and even Steven feels one of his eyebrows rise.

"I thought we were the psychic ones here, Tate." Liza giggles

"I have trained her diligently for this day, and she, in turn, has trained her pokemon for the rigors of being a Gym Leader," Moore presses on past Liza's interruption. "All the paperwork is done and just needs to be sent in. In the next month or two, I'll turn her loose to run things on her own. I've even got her here with me to see how we do things. Say hello, dear!"

"Err, hi everyone..." The young woman greets unsurely, getting a few quiet welcomes from several of the other Gym Leaders.

Steven unmutes himself for a moment with a smile. "That's very exciting news, Moore. I have no doubt that Flannery will be a great Gym Leader. We're all going to miss you here in the League, though. You were one of the best Elite Four members and Gym Leaders Hoenn has ever had. I'll have one of my pokemon head out to Lavaridge to pick up your paperwork in the next day or so." He says, muting himself afterward.

"Ohhh, can't wait for the Magcargo mail to get rid of me, eh?" Moore chuckles. "But thank you, Steven. Ty and I are getting old, and it's time to do everything we couldn't when we were young. Wattson! Drake!" Moore suddenly exclaims. "You two are the only ones left of the old guard. Don't let the kids get into trouble, you hear?"

Drake merely grunts, but Wattson lets out a hearty laugh. "What do you take us for?"

"Speaking of new things," Winona leaves off. "We're a month and some change into the new league year. Has anyone had any interesting challengers so far?"

Most answers are negative, with Wallace being the only exception. "Ah! I had a splendid young woman with a beautiful team challenge me just yesterday!"

Steven can almost hear everyone's eyes rolling at his best friend's words.

"Did they win?" Phoebe asks despite everyone knowing the answer.

"They did not, but they were as graceful in defeat as they were in issuing their challenge!"

"Wallace, dear, perhaps tell us when you have a challenger that excels in battle prowess rather than aesthetics..." Glacia dryly says what's on everyone's mind. "Roxanne, Brawly, you two have been silent. Have any trainers of note crossed your path?"

The champion's mind is instantly taken back to several weeks prior when he and Metagross watched one of Roxanne's lessons turned gym challenge live. The scarred, passionate visage of Lee Henson is impossible to forget.

Equally difficult to forget are his pokemon, a rare Vulpix that prevailed against Roxanne's Nosepass with techniques he had never heard of before, and a Corvisquire, a Galarian pokemon Steven had never even seen in person before that day.

The eyes of that Vulpix, even exhausted, burned with unmistakable power. It's only a matter of time before she and Metagross clash, and by then, she'll have matured into a worthy adversary.

"Indeed I have," Roxanne's contemplating voice breaks Steven's thoughts. "Three, to be exact."

Three? Brendan Birch and Lee Henson are surely two of them, but who is the last one?

"The first was an older trainer in his twenties, a Lab Trainer under Professor Birch by the name of Lee Henson," Roxanne begins. "I offered to count a demonstration battle for my class as an official challenge, citing the... lackluster learning material mandated by the League Education Committee. He used a Corvisquire and a Vulpix against my personal team."

 _That_ draws a few exclamations from a few of the gathered Gym Leaders. "Lab Trainer, eh?" Wattson hums. "I thought Birch's son was starting this year, and the other slot was going to your daughter, Norman?"

"I decided that May would have more fun on her journey without needing to answer to Nigel, so I am paying for her expenses," Norman answers simply. "It seemed unfair to have Nigel use his only two slots on children anyway. I hope the League board provides him more next year."

"Well, it looks like the professor chose wisely, as both Lee Henson and Brendan Birch defeated my personal team," Roxanne reveals, starting another round of startled chatter. "Lee's fighting style is difficult to pin down, and it seems like he even changed tactics part way through our battle, though he is fond of using status moves to place his team into a favorable position. Corvisquire displayed a mastery of Extremespeed, and his Vulpix was somehow able to control her Fire attacks mid-flight, connecting projectiles even with her line-of-sight obscured. Lee's claims of his research being focused on pokemon moves and techniques certainly hold water."

"Mastery of Extremespeed?" Winona wonders aloud.

"...Controlling Fire moves after launch, hmm?" Moore hums. "Interesting..."

' _She didn't tell them about their telepathy?'_ The champion wonders. _'Well, I'll not rock the boat. If they can cultivate such a skill in such a short amount of time, I think they deserve the advantage.'_

"Brendan, meanwhile, is very much his father's son, and played to his pokemon's strengths well," Roxanne continues, ignoring the comments like she would a rowdy class. "He and his Shroomish were content to take the battle slowly, refusing to fall into the trap of moving too fast as many young trainers do. I had to end the first round in a double knockout with Geodude's Self Destruct, lest Shroomish become a thorn in Nosepass's side. His Mudkip evolved mid-battle into Marshtomp, thus rendering Nosepass's electric moves useless. Brendan and Marshtomp capitalized on this and ended the match with Marshtomp's newfound power."

"That's the Birch family for ya," Wattson cuts in. "Be glad most of you weren't Gym Leaders twenty years ago because Nigel Birch was a Gym-sinking terror. You'd play right into his hands without even knowing it and end up crushed. The academic community might give little Nigel the cold shoulder for his short tenure, but none of them would dare slight him to his face." He guffaws. "I bet that kid Brendan had his moves planned several steps in advance just like his pops always did."

"It certainly seemed like it..." Roxanne murmurs. "The last trainer, who just departed for Dewford several days ago is Ash Ketchum."

"Ash?" Norman asks, incredulous.

"I take it you've met him?" Roxanne asks. "Your children were with him and his other friend Brock."

The mic symbol next to Norman's name blips when he bumps something on his desk. "Yes, I've met Ash and Brock, they're good kids. Ash and I had a short practice bout when we were... interrupted by some hooligans calling themselves Team Rocket."

"...So you've met _them_ too..." Roxanne's irritation is almost too quiet to hear.

"We sent them packing and filed a police report," Norman sighs. "I thought they were cosplayers or some practical jokers..."

"The furthest thing, actually. The Rockets were an organized crime ring that terrorized Kanto and Johto for years," Moore openly growls. "Even after they were broken up, cells still pop up here and there. Hoenn police should be on high-alert for them," he says, obviously directing his last line at Steven.

Steven unmutes himself for a moment, "Of course, I'll notify the League Law Enforcement command and the Rangers." He mutes himself again and frowns. _'Why is a foreign gang suddenly encroaching on Hoenn?'_

' _New victims, new opportunities, escaping law enforcement already looking for them, or just on a whim?'_ Metagross silently provides. _'The motives of criminals are often illogical and can vary drastically.'_

' _You're right. We're not letting them get a foothold here though,'_ Steven's face darkens.

' _Certainly not.'_

Roxanne clears her throat. "Ash Ketchum is one of Professor Oak's Lab Trainers and proved it in our match. He asked to face my true team, and I agreed even if I was doubtful of his ability. He played to his Seedot's strengths in an unorthodox way, using Rollout, stopping just long enough to cast Absorb, then using Rollout to escape my Geodude's retaliation. We eventually hit Seedot with a Mega Punch for a knockout, but by then Geodude was in no condition to face Ash's Pikachu."

Brawly whistles. "An Electric-type against a Ground-type? That's bold."

"Indeed, but Pikachu's impressive speed and use of Iron Tail secured him the win against Geodude. Nosepass put up a valiant fight, and Pikachu was hurting after their match, but Ash's pragmatic strategy of keeping out of reach with Pikachu's speed and punishing openings with lightning-fast Iron Tail attacks proved effective, even when Nosepass used Sandstorm to try and keep Pikachu at bay."

A contemplative silence descends upon the call, then Dewford's Gym Leader clears his throat and takes the reins. "Guess it's my turn, then." Brawly's smile can be heard in his voice. "My list is more or less the same as Roxanne's. We battled Brendan and Lee just two days ago. Lee's Vulpix and Corvisquire took on Machoke and Hariyama."

"Hariyama?" Drake's gravelly voice speaks for the first time in the meeting. "Which one?"

Brawly laughs. "My dad's starter."

"I didn't think that old mountain was still kicking," The old dragon tamer grunts. "Salamence still remembers him... So the Lee boy lost, then?"

"Nope."

You could hear a pin drop in the following silence.

"Well, it ended in a draw I felt was worth a badge," Brawly hastily explains. "Machoke could only get one good hit on Vulpix before she blew him away with a storm of Embers, and Hariyama weathered a huge Firespin to knock out Vulpix. Hariyama then fought Corvisquire, and the type advantage tipped the scales just a little too much, so Covisquire's last ditch Drill Peck resulted in a double knockout. Hariyama _is_ pushing sixty years old and has slowed down a lot over the years, but he's anything but a pushover," Brawly pauses. "That Corvisquire though...The little dude is hostility distilled into bird form. When he evolves, he's going to be a once-in-a-generation monster."

"I want to see it." Drake grumbles. "Don't bother explaining anymore. Someone play it on your screen. I want to see the other boy, Brendan, too."

It takes a moment, but Brawly shares his screen with everyone else and pulls up the battles that the local TV station captured.

* * *

" _Corvi! Get up high and use Hone Claws!"_

" _Machoke! Rock Tomb!"_

" _Corvi, move in with Extremespeed! Then Pluck!"_

" _Machoke! Be ready with Thunder Punch!"_

" _It looks like Lee is using his substitution! Why sub now? And who will he send in?"_

" _Lee is sending in Vulpix! How will this little fox compare to Machoke?"_

" _Bulk Up! Then Karate Chop! No more playing defense!"_

" _Ember!"_

" _What a turn! Machoke proves his power with a huge hit using Dig! Poor Vulpix nearly had her lights knocked out!"_

_Then the Embers start to fly again._

_One Ember explodes against his arms and Machoke grits his teeth._

_Two, three, four, five, six, and the Fighting-type groans._

_Seven, eight, nine, ten, twenty, thirty, and he can't help but cry out as smoke overtakes his form._

_Forty, fifty, seventy, and finally the last one strikes and detonates._

" _Machoke!"_

 _An air horn blares._ _"It's over! Machoke is unable to battle! Vulpix is the winner of round one!"_

" _This pokemon... He belonged to my father and was passed down to me when I took the mantle of Gym Leader. He's helped me a lot over the years, and I've stepped away from borrowing his power, but I know when I need help out of a bind."_

Several of the younger Gym Leaders gasp when they see the huge Hariyama.

" _Match two, Hariyama vs Vulpix, begin!"_

" _ **Firespin**_ _!" An inferno overwhelms the cameras._

"My word..." Moore mutters. Flannery can be heard squeaking behind him.

" _Vulpix is unable to battle! Hariyama is the winner of the second match!"_

" _Final match! Corvisquire versus Hariyama! Begin!"_

" _Corvisquire, Extremespeed! Hit him where it hurts!"_

"Is that Corvisqure fighting and using _Extremespeed_ with a broken wing?" Winona sounds equal parts aghast and disbelieving.

Brawly's answer is quick. "As I said, that bird is powered by raw fury."

" _No you don't! Defend yourself with Whirlwind!"_

_Beak meets palm, and Flying meets Fighting in a contest as old as the pokemon world._

_The whole tornado glows with the clash, crackling red versus screaming blue. Blue overtakes red, and the Flying energy overpowers the Fighting with an explosion that kicks up a huge cloud of dust._

" _That's it! Round three ends in a double knockout! This match is a draw!"_

* * *

Brawly lets the video end and jumps right into Brendan's match before anyone can comment.

* * *

" _Shroomish, start this off with Poison Powder!"_

" _Mienfoo, circle around and use Acrobatics!"_

 _Mienfoo does as instructed, but runs face-first into a cloud of purple when Shroomish throws out Poison Powder from_ _**every** _ _direction._

" _Shroomish, back up and use Leech Seed!"_

" _End it fast, Mienfoo!"_

_The chubby Shroomish dances around every strike with a little twirl as his weasel-like opponent grows weaker and weaker. Then in a burst of desperation, the Fighting-type lands a critically placed Acrobatics and knocks Shroomish out._

" _Shroomish is unable to battle! Mienfoo is the winner of round one!"_

" _Go! Marshtomp!"_

Wallace gasps. "What a robust Water-type! The good professor certainly picked only the finest pokemon for his child. Look at his height, his muscles, his vibrant color! This Marshtomp is beautiful!" The mightiest Hoenn Gym Leader gushes.

"Fruit…" Sidney murmurs.

" _Oh! Mienfoo is down with only one punch! Who will Brawly pick next?"_

" _Hitmonchan! You're up!"_

 _What follows is a brutal slugfest, where Hitmonchan rapidly loses ground and stamina while Marshtomp only laughs and strikes_ _**harder** _ _. Even the camera hovering above rattles from the furious exchange._

" _Hitmonchan! Ice Punch!"_

_Marshtomp takes the attack right to the face with barely a flinch. Then he laughs and lashes out with a punch to Hitmonchan's stomach that makes the Fighting-type double over._

Steven can hear a few of the watchers mutter in sympathy for Hitmonchan.

" _Marshtomp! Seismic Toss!"_

_**Crash!** _

" _Hitmonchan is unable to battle! Marshtomp is the winner of round three! Marshtomp and Brendan win the challenge!"_

* * *

Brawly lets the video end. "Ah, I admit if I had Machoke or Hariyama, I think I could have beaten Brendan. Hard to say, however, because that Marshtomp was insane."

"Hrm. These two are worth watching, I guess," Sidney clicks his tongue. "Is this meeting over yet? I ain't getting any younger here."

"There was also Dewford's local event, the Brawl on the Beach, where Lee and his partner Zinnia Draconid won."

' _Like the Draconids in Meteor Falls?'_ Steven wonders with only Metagross to hear it.

Drake's attention is instantly captured again. "Draconid?" He asks sharply. "Play it. Skip everything else."

Brawly obliges. "We'll do just the last one, it's the good part."

He opens the video, and everyone, Steven included, watches closely. The champion can't help but notice that Sidney goes suspiciously quiet as soon as a teen boy in black is called to battle Lee and Zinnia.

As soon as they all witness Vulpix's Convergence in action, Steven knows there are wide eyes all around even without a video feed, as he himself blinks owlishly at the attack he's never seen before.

Tate, brother of Liza and one of the Gym Leaders of Mossdeep is quick to ask something. "Mister Moore? I've never heard of that Fire move. Do you know it?"

"...No. No I do not..." The Fire-type master quietly replies. Even Steven is taken aback by the answer.

"Hrm..." Wattson snorts. "Moore, my buddy ol' pal, I don't think old Drake and I can keep that promise about keeping an eye on the youngsters if they're going to be _this_ much trouble."

Drake makes no comment, and Steven knows it's because his eyes are locked on the tanned young woman, Zinnia.


	23. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thanks to NurseBold, Nicolas H, Tim M, ncskeeter56, Thomas D, Avo, S. Nutter, Lucy B, Lars H, Jesper B, Frogsamurai, Bunny Waffles, Lizard Messiah, Kalafalafakah, Fabhar, Zach C, Dicky W, Sashank U, Patrick I, MidnightJayguar, Tyric Gaias, No Thanks, Michael M, Yeno M, Jeremiah Z, Alex G, Meadow, Spencer S, Taylor V, Jeremy H, Dusks_Lantern, Ethan S, Ben, Scott E, Johnathan C, Josh T, Shawn L, marcellis97, 0The Fool, Arcaryx, Powernap, rooster196, Johnathan D, Sukaleska, Ampharos3, Nick R, Tiemi, and Fire Golem321, Fleshcrawler, Ryan S, Irene, Sarah D, Xegzy, Brad J, Leaveinlimbo, Zhanibek A, and Earthpatriot117 for being patrons.
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_**Theft at Devon Thwarted.** _

_By: Amelia Thatch_

_Earlier this week in Rustboro City, where the headquarters of The Devon Corporation is stationed, a gang member from the eco-radicalist group known simply as Aqua attempted to steal experimental Devon technology._

_Readers might know Devon for their numerous mining subsidiaries or their wide array of household products, but the company has also dabbled in many trainer-focused technologies such as the PokeNav, new pokeball variants, pokemon medicines, and other tools to aid trainers._

_In an official statement delivered from Mr. Joseph Stone, owner and president of Devon Corp, the thief entered into the restricted section of Devon's R &D laboratories by posing as a member of the public and taking one of the weekly tours of non-restricted areas. He then released his Crawdaunt, and after overwhelming on-site security, threatened harm to tour-goers until a security officer relinquished his keycard to the laboratory._

_Before the thief could escape, he was confronted by Kanto-born trainer Ash Ketchum, one of Professor Samuel Oak's professional Lab Trainers, and then promptly defeated in an intense pokemon battle. The stolen goods were recovered, but the gang member managed to escape arrest, and the Rustboro PD urges the public to remain alert for suspicious activity._

" _While this was a frightening experience, we came out of it without any bloodshed and wiser than before." Joseph Stone said in an interview. "I trust our men, women and 'mons of R.P.D. to catch the perpetrator and bring him to justice. We will also be putting tours of our facility on hold for some time as we review our security procedures and hire additional officers. The safety of both our staff and visitors is paramount."_

_Mr. Stone declined to comment on what the thief was attempting to steal._

" _I couldn't just let him go!" Ash Ketchum was passionate during our interview with him. The twelve-year-old veteran of both the Indigo League and Silver Conference had this to say; "Stealing is wrong, it's as simple as that. I don't know why he was after Devon's technology, but he was up to no good. Being a pokemon trainer has taught me to trust my gut, and my gut said I couldn't let him get away."_

_The young trainer's take is as down-to-earth as it is refreshing, but Ash declined to answer any further questions and asked Hoenn News Network to contact Professor Samuel Oak for anything further. Ash recently battled Rusboro's Roxanne in a gym challenge, so be sure to_ _click here to see the HNN highlight reel!_

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* * *

Lee looks up from his phone when the ship's horn blows, signalling that they're coming into port.

The trip to Slateport via cargo ship proved to be much more leisurely than the ride to Dewford. The weather stayed beautiful and sunny, and Brendan made sure to bring nausea medication this time, meaning he wasn't confined to his bed with a face as green as Grovyle's scales. The rooms were much the same as last time as well.

"Maw!"

"Yeouch!"

The older trainer hisses and plucks the dozing Vulpix from his lap. He deposits both his phone and the drowsy vixen on the lumpy bed, ignoring her telepathic irritation, and hops to his feet.

Over on Brendan's bed, the boy cradles his bleeding hand as his Mawile hisses and backs away. Between them lies a pile of misshapen teeth carefully extracted from Mawile's overcrowded jaws.

Brendan must have tugged on a painful one that isn't ready to come out.

"Timeout, both of you!" Lee frowns and slowly steps closer, keeping a careful eye on this still hissing Mawile as he does so. When she opens her jaws a little wider in a clear threat display, Lee stops his advance and slides over to Brendan.

The younger trainer holds his hand with narrowed eyes and gritted teeth. "What's the deal, Mawile?! I'm trying to help!" He exclaims loudly, his voice cracking somewhat.

Mawile just glares at him with her red eyes and hisses much like a crocodile would, making her sound much larger than she is.

' _C'mon...'_

"I said enough!" Lee finally raises his voice, stopping both Mawile and Brendan short. Out of the corner of his eye, Lee sees Zinnia finally stop playing with Goomy and pay attention to the commotion. "Zinnia? Can you get my first aid kit from my bag please?"

The woman sets Goomy down on the bed so she can get up to get Lee's bag, but Brendan is quick to protest. "I can dress my own cuts, Lee. I'm not a kid..." the Birch heir grounds out harshly. "If I needed help, I would ask."

Lee doesn't need his bond with Vulpix to notice her irritation with the younger trainer's attitude, as her face portrays her thoughts perfectly. _'Marshtomp and Shroomish were cakewalks, 'Pix,'_ Lee sends to her. _'He's just a kid, a talented one at that. It's natural that he would get frustrated when he comes across something he can't get right on the first try.'_

Vulpix sniffs, but lets the issue drop in favor of laying her head down and dozing off.

' _You've been sleeping a lot during the day. Are you feeling okay? Not sleeping well?'_

A flicker of dismissal is the only answer.

Lee frowns and makes a mental note to look into it later. Right now, he's got bigger fish to fry. He turns his attention back to Brendan and Mawile. "I understand, Brendan, but sometimes you need help whether you like it or not. Dental work is delicate stuff, and tooth pain is one of the most distressing experiences an ani-pokemon can endure," Lee nearly trips over his words with a grimace. "Go hang out with Vulpix and bandage up your hand while I finish up Mawile's tooth extraction. When she's past the worst of it, I can teach you how to spot a tooth that needs to come out and the safe way to do it, yeah? It's not something you'll have to do often."

For a second, Lee fears that Brendan is going to put up a fight, judging from the glower that darkens his face, but then he sighs and stands from the bed. "Okay... Sorry I didn't notice you were in pain earlier, Mawile," he says quietly, meeting the deceiver pokemon's eyes.

Mawile's face remains blank.

Lee claps Brendan on the shoulder before he can walk off. "You did a good job, Brendan. If we weren't on a rocking ship, I'm sure you would have gotten her fixed up easily," Lee smiles.

The boy trainer returns the smile with a small one of his own.

Brendan takes his bag over to Lee's bed and pulls out a small roll of bandages before sitting down. Vulpix huffs and flicks an ear when the motion awakens her again, but she still crawls into Brendan's lap before shutting her eyes again.

Seeing that she's not needed anymore, Zinnia shrugs and returns to laying back and petting Goomy, who coos and gurgles in delight.

Lee steps back over to his little corner of the ship cabin to grab his own backpack and withdraw his berry case. Popping it open, he shakes his head when he finds that he's low on Oran. _Again._ He also spares a glance at Brendan and is satisfied to see the boy disinfect the cut across the back of his hand and wrap it tightly.

Walking back to the still wary Mawile, Lee seats himself and shows her the berries in his hand. "I'm going to crush these into a paste and then we'll rub your gums down with it, okay?" He asks slowly. Without waiting for an answer, he sets one down between them. "You can sample one if you want. It's just a normal Oran."

Mawile's distrustful gaze softens slightly, and she steps closer to take the offered berry. She inspects the blue fruit in her little hands carefully, sniffing it a few times, then takes a bite with her smaller, front-facing mouth. The tension in her shoulders eases somewhat.

"See? Easy." Lee smiles, taking care to not display his teeth as usual. After pulling his gloves off, he cups his hands and crushes the other Oran into a thin mush as Mawile watches and munches on her treat. She hesitates when Lee twirls a finger telling her to turn around, but she presents her crooked jaws to him, looking back at him the entire time.

"Modified horns my ass, this is a full mouth..." Lee mutters, looking at all the pearly razors that would make a crocodile green with envy. Her gums are swollen and even bleeding in places, definitely owing to the teeth all trying to overtake each other. Lee dabs his fingers in the blue paste in his hand and gently rubs the Oran mixture along Mawile's gums, stopping for a second whenever she flinches. The entire time, Lee is careful to not let any part of his hand linger between her teeth any longer than needed.

' _One bite, and off goes my hand. I can only imagine the sheer power of these teeth if they can rend an Aron to bits and pierce Marshtomp's skin.'_

"Hey, Lee? Is Mawile always going to pop teeth out?" Brendan asks, stroking the sleeping fox in his lap.

Lee nods absently as he works. "From what I can tell, yeah," He pokes Mawile's drooling tongue to keep her from licking at the Oran soaking into the roots of her teeth. Then with feather-light touches, he carefully prods her teeth to find loose ones. "She's what's called a polyphyodont."

"A poly phone what?" Zinnia perks her head up off her pillow to blink curiously. Brendan likewise looks lost.

"A polyphyodont is a... pokemon that continually sheds and regrows teeth, usually because they're often used," Lee explains, nearly tripping and saying 'animal' again. He pauses to finger a wiggly tooth, and when Mawile doesn't flinch, he grabs it between his index finger and his thumb and gives it a short tug. With a quiet _'shlick',_ the tooth comes free and is tossed into the pile. "Normally you see it in certain reptilian and fish pokemon, like the Sharpedo, Garchomp, or Sceptile line, but some mammals like Mawile can be polyphyodonts too. When your teeth are your main mode of attack, it makes sense to be able to replace them when one is damaged. Mawile's mouth is overcrowded at the moment, so this is not the norm."

As he gives his impromptu lecture, Lee's hands keep moving, slowly removing several more loose teeth and dropping them into the pile. Lee stops, then tenderly runs his hands over a few spots where teeth are still trying to grow over each other, but none of the remainders wiggle like they're ready to come out. "Well, it's not perfect, but this should keep the pain down until we get to the Pokemon Center and have a professional perform something more comprehensive. Thank you, Mawile."

The little pokemon tilts her head at being addressed. "Maa?"

"Normally my patients aren't so understanding when I root around in their mouths without proper anesthesia," Lee chuckles and stands, walking to the small bathroom to wash off his hands. "The boat sh-"

"Attention all guests," The old PA system crackles to life, echoing up and down the ship. "This is your captain speaking. We've docked in Slateport. The time is 2:45 PM, and the weather is clear and sunny. Thank you for riding with us, and please disembark on the starboard side."

"...Should be docking any minute," Lee finishes with an eye roll. He flicks the faucet on, cleans his hands off, and dons his gloves again. "Let's roll."

Brendan and Zinnia both withdraw pokeballs. "Mawile, return!" "Goomy, return!"

Both pokemon are recalled back to their balls in flashes of red light. Brendan then shakes Vulpix awake, who yawns and stands, letting Brendan get up to gather his things.

Lee shoulders his bag and lets his fox leap to his shoulder, where she settles but remains awake.

It takes the three trainers only a minute or so to stuff their belongings away and exit their room. Brendan throws open the door leading out and nearly bowls over a Meowth standing in the way.

"Erk! Sorry?" Brendan apologizes when the Meowth rears up on his hind legs and hisses.

The cat pokemon hisses again and scrambles away into another open cabin door, his tail fluffing up as he does so. Then; "Meowth? Were you out there making trouble again?"

Lee and Zinnia step into the hallway just as a man exits the other cabin with the Meowth trailing at his heels. The man smiles at the group. "Hi there. Name's Tyson. Sorry if Meowth was being a pest. He does that." He leans down to stroke the cat pokemon along his back.

The beige cat looks totally unrepentant and just soaks in his trainer's affection with a purr.

The man before them looks to be a young adult, a bit younger than Lee and probably closer to Zinnia's 19 years of age. His brown hair is several inches long and lightly swept back, matching his brown eyes. Garbed in an open, light green jacket, a darker green shirt, simple cargo pants and plain boots, it would be easy to lose him in a crowd.

"No, it's cool. I shouldn't have opened the door so fast," Brendan returns Tyson's smile with a sheepish one of his own. "My name is Brendan Birch, and this is Lee and Zinnia," the Birch heir introduces the group, pointing to Lee and Zinnia in turn.

Zinnia raises a hand in a casual wave. "Heya."

"It's a pleasure, Tyson," Lee nods absently. _'Where have I seen this guy before? I know I have... Some part of the anime? Let's dig, shall we?'_ "What brings you to Slateport?"

"It's not really Slateport in particular I'm going to," He begins, falling into step with the other three trainers as they continue off the ship. "My hometown is in Mauville, and after blowing the Gym Challenge big time a few years ago, I traveled around and trained my team..." Tyson lets out a wistful sigh. "Wattson curbstomped us, and I... kind of gave up."

Zinnia snorts and crosses her arms. "If you're that much of a quitter, then you're not going to go far in the world, let alone a gym circuit."

' _Zinnia!'_

Both Brendan and Lee shoot the dragon tamer glares, but Tyson just shakes his head ruefully. "You're not wrong, hence our little sabbatical," he mutters. At his feet. Meowth mewls softly and rubs up against his leg.

The group exits the ship and finds themselves on the sunny deck, making Lee blink his eyes in the bright sun. He turns his head slightly so less sunlight can sting the lines marring his face. When his vision finally adjusts to the sudden brightness, he looks at Slateport and feels his eyebrows rise.

The port city is a true metropolis, with sleek high rise buildings that dominate the skyline and sidewalks packed with people and pokemon. The port is massive, easily dwarfing Dewford's. Tankers, cargo ships, and cruise ships crowd the docks as other ships, smaller boats, and even a number of Water-type pokemon weave between each other in a complex dance. To his amusement, Lee even sees an Empoleon casually towing a small sailboat with a broken mast. The crew of the damaged boat all lean over the side rails with spirits low.

"But I think we're strong enough to make a difference this time. It was arrogant of me to think I could take on Wattson's real team back then, but I believe that my team can do it now." Tyson's bright smile is dazzling like the sun and drags Lee's attention back to the conversation as they descend the ramp to the terminal the cargo ship is moored to. "So I'm on my way home to reunite with my family, beat Wattson, and then challenge the rest of Hoenn."

"Heh, good luck!" Brendan laughs and pats the pokeballs on his belt. "Cuz Lee and I are taking the Gym Challenge too! Both of us already beat Roxanne and Brawly going all out!"

Tyson's eyes widen. "Really?" Do you have the badges?" He asks.

The group steps out into the terminal and several paces away from the ramp before Brendan fishes the badge case from his backpack. With a proud grin, he pops the case open to show the two badges inside.

Tyson almost reaches out, but stops himself short. "May I?"

Grin dropping into an expression of wariness, Brendan mulls it over and slowly nods.

The older trainer lifts the Knuckle Badge from the case and turns it around, his eyes widening even more. "No way..."

Lee steps a little closer to see what Tyson is looking at. Peering over the slightly shorter man's shoulder, he finds a tiny **B** engraved into the back of the badge. It's outlined in what looks like a laser-etched QR code.

Tyson replaces the badge and picks up the Stone Badge. The back of it has an **R** engraved into the metal with the same code-like pattern around the letter.

Standing on the tips of her toes, Zinnia looks over Tyson's shoulder to see the little mark as well. "What does that mean?" Zinnia asks, raising a brow.

"You guys don't know...?" Brendan blinks.

"If you beat a Gym Leader," Tyson begins, putting the badge back in Brendan's case. "Then you get a badge, everyone knows that. What a lot of people don't know is if you really **beat** a Gym Leader, then the badge will have a mark on the back, and that badge qualifies you for the Ever Grande Conference for three years rather than the standard two."

' _Note to self. Finish that rulebook. That would have been nice to know...'_ Lee sighs.

"If it's not too much to ask, could I bother you for a battle?" Tyson asks, catching Lee's eyes with his own. "Sorry if this is too sudden," the brunette man laughs nervously. "But I want to know how well I stack up against trainers who can go toe-to-toe with Gym Leaders."

"I don't see why not," Lee shrugs. "Let's find a battleground."

* * *

The walk to the battleground is a short one, as just off the terminal where the cargo ship landed, there's a large, circular shopping plaza bustling with sailors, tourists, and a dizzying menagerie of pokemon. The center of the plaza is dominated by a towering two-story-tall fountain featuring a slew of stone water pokemon statues spraying jets of crystal-clear water into the shallow pool below, and onto a Slowbro who rests in the cool water half-asleep. Around the massive fountain, several pokemon battlegrounds marked with white paint sit ready to be used.

"Does one on one work for you?" Lee asks as he and Vulpix take his side of their chosen field. "I've still got one down from the battle with Brawly."

Tyson's visage sours when the Gym Leader is mentioned, but he covers it up immediately. "I was about to suggest the same thing!" Tyson calls. His hand throws back his jacket, revealing six pokeballs on his belt that his hand hovers over.

"Brendan?" Lee calls the boy. "Care to ref?"

He smiles. "Sure thing!" Brendan bounds to the side of the arena and clears his throat. "This will be a one-on-one match between Lee of Littleroot and Tyson of Mauville! The battle will end when either pokemon is no longer able to fight. Select your first pokemon!"

A crowd quickly gathers around the arena as the people watching realize a battle is about to start. Already, cellphones and PokeNavs appear in people's hands, ready to capture the action.

Lee draws Grovyle's ball from his belt and enlarges it as Tyson pulls one from his. Reeling his hand back, the zoologist tosses his ball in with Tyson following suit a second later.

"Grovyle! You're up!"

"Donphan! Let's go!"

Grovyle materializes on Lee's side in a crouch, one hand planted against the ground, his eyes closed. Slowly, he rises, shifting his twig to the corner of his mouth and crossing his arms. His eyes snap open, then he dismissively scans the on-lookers, who eat up the dramatic intro with cheers.

Lee shakes his head as he feels Vulpix's exasperation. _'Just let him have his theatrics.'_

When the bright white light clears around Tyson's pokemon, it reveals a scowling Donphan.

The squat pokemon resembles an armored elephant just a bit over four feet tall at the highest point of his hunched back. Thick, rock-like armor covers the outside of his trunk and continues up his back, covering both his long ears and tail. Long ivory tusks shine in the sunlight just below Donphan's narrowed eyes. The pokemon's body carries small, discolored scars and chips in his armor here and there, much like the marks across Grovyle's torso.

Donphan raises his trunk and cows the small crowd with a trumpeting, bone-shaking cry that echoes off of the tall Slateport buildings in the distance.

' _Huh, that's a fearsome pokemon. Less so than Absol, though. I hope we don't discourage him enough that he gives up again.'_ Lee shrugs. _'I wish I knew where this Tyson guy was from in the anime, though...'_

"Begin!" Brendan chops a hand down.

Tyson's eyes narrow and focus solely on the pokemon in the arena "Focus Energy!" Tyson wastes no time calling out an order.

' _Uh oh...'_ Lee frowns. "Grovyle, circle and use Leaf Blade!"

"Catch and punish him, Donphan!" Tyson's mouth is moving before the last syllable of Lee's order is even out of his mouth.

Donphan lets out another trumpeting cry and raises his trunk, orange energy crackling like lightning around his body briefly. His narrow eyes shine with cruel intent.

At the same time. Grovyle raises his arm, the leaves on his wrist growing into rigid Leaf Blades. Then without needing to be told, the white aura of Quick Attack bursts to life around him before he charges forward as a featureless blur of green, curving to come in on Donphan's left.

Donphan _moves._

Before Leaf Blade can tear into Donphan's hide, his trunk comes down like lightning and wraps around Grovyle's wrist in one precise movement, stopping Leaf Blade dead just an inch short of landing. Grovyle seems stunned, then struggles to pull himself free, but Donphan doesn't budge or even look as if he's straining his muscles keeping a hold on Grovyle.

"What the hell?" The words pour from Lee's mouth unbidden. At the side of the arena, even Brendan seems dumbfounded from how easily Grovyle was stopped. Zinnia, who stands further back, looks on with her eyebrows raised almost to her hairline.

Donphan's scowl twists into a malicious smile, and with a simple flex of his trunk, Grovyle's wrist snaps like a dry twig, drawing a collective wince from everyone watching.

The gecko pokemon bites his lip hard enough to draw blood, but does not cry out.

"Other hand, Grovyle! Leaf Blade! Get him off of you!" A cold feeling settles Lee's stomach even as he gives the order.

Grovyle's first Leaf Blade powers down, and the leaves on his free hand, powered by desperation, flare into bright, humming blades.

"Deflect and punish with Fire Fang!" Tyson orders the instant before Grovyle swings.

Donphan's tusks burst into raging, crackling flames, and a simple twist of his trunk redirects Grovyle's attack into the closest tusk.

Leaf Blade and Fire Fang meet with the sound of steel-on-steel, and after a half-second, the Leaf Blade _shatters._

The other tusk is then savagely driven into Grovyle's stomach right as Donphan releases the gecko pokemon's broken wrist from his trunk.

Grovyle's high pitched cry -almost screech- of agony is as harsh on Lee's ears as seeing his pokemon in pain is to his heart. Grovyle lands on the concrete ground and skids for several feet, breaking off scales and scraping the soft flesh underneath. He stops nearly at Lee's feet and lays on the ground, panting in short gasps.

Donphan takes a few heavy steps forward and snorts almost dismissively.

With a grimace, Grovyle slowly rises to his feet, cradling his snapped wrist as he glares daggers at the armored pokemon, drawing cheers and shouts of encouragement from the people watching. On his belly is an ugly burn, like a red-hot iron was pressed to his flesh, the leaves on his left arm are ragged and half-gone, and his right arm hangs limply at his side. From his view of Grovyle's back, Lee looks at the mess of scrapes and cuts with a grimace.

Tyson's focused eyes narrow a little further, almost to slits. "Superpower!" he almost roars.

Donphan rushes forward like a bullet-train, each step breaking the concrete ground below him as a shell of blinding red energy forms around him. Under the shell, the elephant pokemon's muscles all bulge with raised veins and ripple in sync with each step.

' _Shit shit shit!'_ Lee panics. "Detect!"

Grovyle's eyes shine with sudden clarity, instantly chasing away the weariness that dominated them before, then with a tensing of his legs, he jumps over Donphan with less than an inch to spare.

Donphan grunts, then stops on a dime and jumps right along with Grovyle, making a shallow crater in the ground from the sheer strength of the leap.

Grovyle's Detect-powered eyes widen, and he rapidly charges Quick Attack to launch himself through the air to safety, but Donphan is just a hair too fast.

Like a boulder hurled from a catapult, Donphan hits Grovyle and dispels both Detect and Quick Attack. Grovyle's head brutally smashes off of Donphan's Superpowered hide, instantly knocking the Grass-type unconscious before he's thrown straight up from the force. At the apex of his flight, nearly as high as the fountain, Grovyle begins to fall, limp and dead to the world.

Lee's hand grabs Grovyle's ball with haste borne of terror, then his arm snaps out as he begins to yell "Return!"

Grovyle is caught by the beam of red and sucked back into his pokeball just ten feet away from a painful meeting with the ground.

Brendan looks between the unscathed Donphan and the spot where Grovyle was about to land with something akin to confusion. "Uhh. Grovyle is unable to battle. Tyson and Donphan are the winners?"

The onlookers break out into applause, but some look disgruntled, and Lee hears one old sailor grumble; "Only a minute? What a waste."

' _Did that really take just a minute?'_ Lee wonders, his head feeling light and stomach-churning. _'How...?'_

Vulpix nuzzles herself into the crook of his neck, psychically smothering him in waves of comfort, but it doesn't help.

Across the battleground, Tyson breaks out into a bright smile as Donphan returns to his side. The elephant's scowl drops off, replaced with a bright, bubbly expression that would be right at home on a Phanpy. He reaches his trunk up at his trainer, and Tyson gladly drops to a knee to accept a hug from Donphan. The trainer and pokemon break apart, and after saying something too quiet for Lee to hear, Donphan is returned to his ball.

"Good match, Lee!" Tyson smiles as he walks up with a hand held out. "Sorry if Donphan was a little rough on Grovyle. One of the lessons we learned on the road was to not give any quarter, or we could lose at any time. No hard feelings?"

Lee looks down at the offered hand. A spiteful, childish part of him wants to slap the hand away and tell Tyson to get lost, but after a brief internal struggle, the rational side wins out, if only barely. With a sigh, Lee reaches out and takes Tyson's hand in a weak handshake. "Yeah. No hard feelings..."

If the younger man senses the barely hidden hostility, he doesn't comment on it. Instead, he turns to the still dumbfounded Brendan and the now indifferent Zinnia. "It was nice meeting you all, but I've got to get going to Mauville. I hope we meet again, if not on the road, then in the Ever Grande Conference!"

The crowd disperses as Tyson walks to the north into Slateport proper with a wave behind him, leaving just Lee, Vulpix, Zinnia, and Brendan.

"Pokemon Center?" Zinnia suggests.

As they leave, the Slowbro in the fountain awakens and surveys the destruction of the battleground with a lazy eye. With a slow, almost casual wave of his paw, all the concrete fragments glow a light blue and fly back into their spots like time itself is being reversed, leaving the arena clean and in one piece.

The walk to Slateport's Pokemon Center is brisk and quiet. Vulpix stops trying to comfort Lee about half-way there when it's made apparent that she's being ignored. The vixen instead goes silent, but not before Lee hears a whisper quiet _'So*ry'._

Lee just kicks himself for what feels like the millionth time today.

When they get to the Pokemon Center, Lee swiftly checks-in Grovyle, followed by Brendan handing off Mawile's ball to a dental specialist that Nurse Joy calls from the back of the Center, then the group stops in the lounge area to enjoy some rest away from Slateport's muggy heat.

With a sleeping Vulpix in his lap, Lee leans back into the old couch in the secluded corner of the Center's main room with Zinnia on his right and Brendan on his left. Zinnia busies herself watching a young woman check in her Dratini with Nurse Joy at the front desk while a fidgeting Brendan looks though his pokedex.

Finally, Zinnia breaks the silence with a sharp exhale. "Okay, do you want me to give it to you straight, or spare your feelings and keep my mouth shut?" The dragon tamer looks at Lee. "Because I know which one I want to choose."

Lee blinks at suddenly being addressed. "I don't understand?"

"About why you lost that battle so badly," she says, brushing some hair behind her ear.

"There was nothing that could be done!" Brendan hotly speaks in Lee's defense. "That Donphan was too strong!"

"Brendan."

The boy stops when Zinnia actually uses his name. She crosses her arms and continues. "You've seen it too, and it's best to get it out now." Then she turns back to Lee, who is still lost. "I had my doubts back in Oldale when you said you were a beginner trainer, but as we've traveled, I've come to believe it. Your brains and prep work are top notch, but you're a mediocre battler, Lee."

The words sting his pride much more than Lee cares to admit, and he struggles to suppress a flicker of anger. "What makes you say that?" He responds, careful to keep his tone neutral.

"You can never seem to settle on a style, for one." Zinnia begins, holding up a single finger. "You're all over the place, and not in a good way. Your pokemon are freaky powerful, probably because of how you care for them, and you rely way too much on that. They can overpower other pokemon easily and battle more-or-less on their own. You've got little tricks that can turn the tide of a fight, yeah, but you make choices that make me scratch my head sometimes."

Lee notices that Brendan doesn't come to his defense, and an unpleasant feeling he can't identify rolls around in his stomach. "And you have a style? I recall you just sort of went wild in Dewford."

Zinnia's face twists into a scowl and Lee instantly knows he misspoke. "You have some gall saying that. This isn't about me, so don't deflect it onto me. I _do_ have a style of battling, and if you want to be like that, I'll be happy to demonstrate it."

A growl interrupts any further words, and everyone looks to the now awake Vulpix, who stands and glowers at Zinnia with her hackles raised.

"And you!" The draconid growls right back at the fire fox. "You're part of the problem! You're telepathic, aren't you?"

"What?" Lee's mind goes blank. "How did you...?"

"Telepathic..?" Brendan parrots in confusion.

Zinnia snorts. "I'm not stupid, so don't insult me by implying I am, Lee. I can put two and two together, and I can research to see what pokemon has what powers. I was just wondering how long you were going to keep it under wraps."

Lee isn't sure how to respond, and the sinking feeling in his stomach is too distracting to think of a reply anyway.

In the back of his mind, Vulpix begins feeding him an explan-

"Right there!" Zinnia's voice startles both Vulpix and Lee out of the mental exchange. The tanned woman points a finger at Vulpix, as if damning her. "You both spaced out for a second. Are you giving him answers and making decisions for him?"

Vulpix's answer is just a glare.

"You are, and you're enabling these bad habits," Zinnia accuses.

Now it's Lee's turn to glare. "Leave Vulpix out of this."

"I will if she stays out of our conversation," Zinnia counters without hesitation. Then she sighs and lets her expression soften just slightly. "Look, I'm not saying all of this just to be an asshole. Just let me finish, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, Zinnia bulldozes on. "One," she holds up a finger again. "You battle like you're just guessing, and you panic and pull last-second tricks when things go wrong. It works because your pokemon are powerful enough to make do, but up against someone with a refined style, or stronger pokemon, or both like that guy Tyson? It's going to fail every time. Two," a second finger rises. "You second guess yourself all the time, then let your pokemon decide for you. _You_ are the trainer in the relationship so you should be the one calling the shots. It's fine to consult your team and stuff, but the roles of trainer and pokemon are the way they are for a reason. You've got to be confident to be a good trainer. Three," now three fingers are held up on her hand. "Stop being afraid of failure."

Affront floods Lee and he can't stop his offended reply. "I'm not."

"You are," Zinnia shoots back, her brows furrowing. "You can deny it all you want, maybe you don't even realize it, but you are. You stumble into battles and flail your way to victory, acting like losing means death. If it was Brendan or I or any other trainer who battled Tyson, we'd shake off the loss in a minute or two, because we know we can't win all the time. You're still moping and it's been nearly an hour."

"Is this the part where you tell me you're a psychiatrist or some shit?" Lee snaps, his emotions finally reaching a boiling point. "Go on. I'm waiting," he says with a sarcastic wave of his hand.

Zinnia's scowl deepens. "Work with Dragons sometime. You'll learn real fast that reading body language is a skill dragon tamers need. A skill that I _thought you had,_ jackass. I guess not since you feel the need to insult my intelligence _again_." The dragon-tamer stands suddenly. "I dunno what kind of complex you've got, but fix it before it lands you with something worse than those," she points to the burn lines across Lee's face. "I'm going for a walk. Bye." With that, she turns and walks to the exit of the Center with a clipped pace.

"Wait!" Lee's plea stops Zinnia for a moment. "Why did you wait so long to say anything?"

"Why are you still holding things back from us?" She shoots back before quickly making her way out the door.

Lee is quiet for a moment, the anger bubbling in his chest clashing with a sudden surge of melancholy before both burn out, leaving him empty. Then he turns to a very uncomfortable-looking Brendan. "Brendan? Does... Does it seem like I have no idea what I'm doing in battles?"

Vulpix's almost instinctual attempt to telepathically deny the statement is halted when Lee places a palm on her head with a quiet hush.

The boy hesitates, his eyes looking around at anything but Lee's face. "Well... I always thought it was some kind of strategy that was just too complex for me to get. I didn't really know..?"

Slowly, Lee stands and Vulpix hops from his lap to the floor. He tries to think of what to do next, and Vulpix is silent in his mind. After a moment, he says; "I'm going to get a hotel room. I've got some things to think over. I'll text you the address and room number later, okay?"

The boy nods quickly, and Lee begins the aimless walk out of the Center's doors into the streets of Slateport.

* * *

He and Vulpix weave through the people on the sidewalk, looking around without actually seeing anything. Vulpix keeps pace at his feet as they walk, seeming just as lost in thought as her trainer.

After almost thirty minutes of wandering, they come across a chain hotel that Lee's bleary mind judges as 'good enough', and a swipe of his debit card later, he and Vulpix are resting in a two bed hotel room with the lights off and the curtains drawn.

As he lays back in the bed, minus his boots, gloves, and jacket, Lee's mind keeps replaying Zinnia's words over and over again as he stares at the ceiling.

_You battle like you're just guessing, and you panic and pull last-second tricks when things go wrong._

_You second guess yourself all the time, then let your pokemon decide for you. You are the trainer in the relationship so you should be the one calling the shots._

_Stop being afraid of failure._

With a sigh, Lee sits up and crosses his legs, drawing Vulpix's worried eyes from where she rests at his side. "Vulpix? Do you think..."

' _You already know what she thinks.'_

The former zookeeper stops himself short. "Should I..." He stops again and balls his hands up. "I don't..."

_You second guess yourself all the time, then let your pokemon decide for you._

Lee grits his teeth. "Damn it!" he pounds a fist on the bed.

Vulpix watches on, but does not offer any comfort like she usually would. Slowly, she stands and pads her way to the foot of the bed, where Lee's backpack, discarded jacket, and pokeball belt lay. The vixen taps her pokeball with a paw and pulls Corvisquire's ball free with another. Her ball enlarges and sucks her inside as a mass of red light, and Corvisquire's shrunken pokeball freely rolls to rest against Lee's leg.

The action is so unexpected that it takes Lee a moment to process it, but her message to speak to someone else isn't lost to him.

' _Does she think she's influencing me in some way? Zinnia's words didn't bug Vulpix that much, did they?'_ Lee silently ponders, taking Corvisquire's ball in his hand and enlarging it with a push of the button. _'I don't think she's influencing me. What does Zinnia know? She doesn't understand the full story.'_

Lee falls back to the bed with a quiet _poof_ from the covers, rolling Corvisquire's ball in his fingers as his jumbled thoughts bounce around in his head. "Maybe I do need someone to talk to about all this. I can barely focus..."

His thumb falls on the pokeball's button, and in a blinding flash of light, the ball pops open and deposits Corvisquire on the bed beside him.

The raven looks even more displeased than usual with his left wing still tightly wrapped with a splint and not due to be freed for another few days. He glances around the darkened room, and upon spying just Lee, who looks at the ceiling rather than him, some of Corvisquire's customary anger is traded for confusion.

"It's just us, Corvi," Lee quietly explains, turning his head enough to see the bird pokemon. "Some stuff happened today, and Vulpix thinks I should talk to someone other than her. Grovyle is hurt and still at the Pokemon Center, otherwise I'm sure he would have volunteered. Sorry for bothering you."

Corvisquire just sighs and sits, already looking disinterested.

"You don't have to respond back, if you could just listen, that would be great," Lee mutters, meeting Corvisquire's red eyes for a moment. The red eyes roll and the raven gives a noncommittal nod. "We battled a guy today, Tyson. It was a one on one between Grovyle and his Donphan, and Grovyle lost without even managing to scratch Donphan."

That gets Corvisquire's attention, making the corvid actually listen to Lee intently.

"It was frustrating, more than anything on our journey yet. I don't know why it bugged me so much," Lee growls. "Brawly could have just as easily said our draw wasn't worth a badge, and I don't think that would have upset me this much… We got to the Pokemon Center after the battle with Tyson and checked-in Grovyle. Brendan, Zinnia, and I sat and talked for a bit, and Zinnia said we lost because..." He pauses. "Because I rely too much on you guys being healthy and powerful, and that I'm not a good trainer for battling. Do you agree with that?"

Corvisquire unhelpfully trills in his throat. The sound is distinctly uncaring.

"Right..." Lee grimaces. "She also said I need to stop being afraid of failing, and that I need to get over it before I end up with something worse than these," he rubs the left side of his face, feeling the scars pull and stretch the healthy skin around them unpleasantly. "Corvi? I know she's told Grovyle bits, but has Vulpix told you where I got these?"

The bird is silent, then shakes his head in negation. If he was paying attention before, then he's truly focused now.

"I haven't told Brendan or Zinnia either, and I'm not sure when I will be ready to, but I know it has to be soon..." Lee takes a deep breath to brace himself. "Before I was a pokemon trainer, I lived in a place without pokemon at all. There, I made a living caring for animals. You know? The creatures that look like pokemon, but lack your spark or intelligence? We got warning when it was already too late that some unknown faction of humans used..." Lee stops as images flash before his eyes, and pushing them away without Vulpix's help is a struggle that makes his fists clench. "Bombs. Flying bombs with enough power to level an entire city. As far as I know, I was the only one to escape and it's a miracle that I did. It's a miracle that Vulpix found me and kept me sane. My animals, friends, and family are gone, and all I got for the trouble was a torn-up face as a bad memento."

Lee once again pauses, memories halting the words in his mouth. "Corvi?" He finally asks, voice little more than whisper. "I've been thinking about them less and less. I'm just... out of tears I suppose. Or maybe I'm running away from the thoughts, I don't know." When the raven pokemon doesn't reply, Lee continues on before his nerve can give out. "When you evolve into a Corviknight, can you fly me to Littleroot? I want to make a grave for them. Just a little one, so they're not forgotten."

Corvisquire, who has been silent and listening with a blank face the entire time, slowly nods.

"Thank you..." Lee breathes, feeling a little lighter. "I'm sorry to have kept this from you for so long, but I wasn't sure how to say it. Maybe Zinnia is right. Maybe I do need to be more confident, or be more decisive. I'm just not sure how. What I am sure of, is I need to improve. I need to grow so you, Grovyle, and Vulpix can grow."

Corvisquire's scoff is much less venomous than expected.

With reluctance, Lee's hand snakes into his pocket and withdraws his wallet. From it, he pulls a little card he was given weeks ago.

_ 1800-2134-9991 _

_Post Traumatic Stress Specialists of Hoenn._

_100% Confidential. All insurance types accepted._

He stares at the card for what feels like hours when really only a minute passes. Then he puts the card away and stuffs his wallet back in his pocket.

"I don't need that," he mutters. "Not yet." Feeling his eyelids grow heavy as the events of the day catch up with him, Lee turns to Corvisquire a bit more. "I'm just going to take a short nap, alright?"

With a sigh, the raven pokemon hops onto the other pillow and stomps a divot into it, then he seats himself and gets comfortable.

"Thanks, Corvi," Lee murmurs as his eyes drift shut.


	24. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Any similarities between real people, living or dead, or places, standing or demolished, in this story are just coincidence.
> 
> I am an animal lover, but not exactly an expert. Some biology and behavior referenced in the story may not be 100% accurate, or might even be outright pseudoscience.
> 
> A big thanks to NurseBold, Nicolas H, Tim M, ncskeeter56, Thomas D, Avo, S. Nutter, Lucy B, Lars H, Jesper B, Frogsamurai, Bunny Waffles, Lizard Messiah, Kalafalafakah, Fabhar, Zach C, Dicky W, Sashank U, Patrick I, MidnightJayguar, Tyric Gaias, No Thanks, Michael M, Yeno M, Jeremiah Z, Alex G, Meadow, Spencer S, Taylor V, Jeremy H, Ethan S, Ben, Scott E, Johnathan C, Josh T, Shawn L, marcellis97, 0The Fool, Arcaryx, Powernap, rooster196, Johnathan D, Sukaleska, Ampharos3, Nick R, Tiemi, and Fire Golem321, Fleshcrawler, Ryan S, Irene, Sarah D, Xegzy, Brad J, Leaveinlimbo, Zhanibek A, Earthpatriot117, CheesePie25, John T, Joe, Thundatwin, Deohn L, TwentyThousandCats, Nubice, Grimzero, MooMoo195, itsawaffle, Lucre, Rafael B, Esquire, Ashby T, Mitchell S, Sean M, Pace M, Spencer Kohlman, Siphon Rayzar, Mrbucky92, ItsCool, wishindo, Vees, Sandesh, Seadrake, Obsidianking, Berd, and Josh D for being patrons.
> 
> An extra big thanks to Spartanstoryteller, Drekin, Teigen S, Lennert B, K, Andres, Nighty, Stays Secret, Paul F, VandheerXLorde, Dusks_Lantern, AlthePal, xdra22 for being high-level patrons.
> 
> Last but certainly not least, a very special thanks to BrokenOlive for being a top-level patron.
> 
> Want to support me? See https://www.patreon.com/fuggmann

* * *

In the dim morning light that streams in through the mostly-drawn curtain of the hotel window, Lee sits on the edge of his bed and looks down at his hands.

He slept for several hours yesterday until a hungry and annoyed Corvisquire made his displeasure known with a nip to Lee's nose. After feeding the ornery raven and still-quiet Vulpix, Lee made the trek to the Pokemon Center to pick up Grovyle, who was on a no-battle advisory for two days until his wrist finished healing. The gecko pokemon was sullen over his loss, but a good meal perked him up.

He passed Zinnia in the street on the way back, and neither of them exchanged words, or even looked at each other.

The rest of the evening was spent in an uncomfortable silence with his pokemon, then by himself when his team decided to sleep in their balls. He tried to distract himself with a video from one of the Rustboro university courses, but his troubled mind refused to focus. Sleep escaped Lee until nearly midnight as he dwelt on Zinnia's words.

He thinks back to the weeks he's spent with Brendan and Zinnia. It seems like every other day there is a spar between them all, and Lee can count his team's losses on one hand with fingers to spare.

' _Style. What did she mean by style?'_

Zinnia's battles all come to mind. It always seemed like she was a simple berserker, going full throttle and ruthlessly exploiting any openings. Openings that her pokemon made by using Mist, Smokescreen, Sand Attack, shooting at her foe's feet, and other ways to halt and break momentum so her pokemon can take a low-risk, advantageous position. Then when the opponent exposes any weakness, Zinnia's pokemon move in and strike like vipers, repeating attacks if needed so the moment isn't wasted.

' _She_ _ **does**_ _have a style!'_ Lee blinks as the realization hits him like a train. _'And she sticks to it. Is that how she keeps her flow in battle? What about Brendan?'_

Again, he dredges up memories, this time of Brendan's battles. With how often Marshtomp is used, it always looked like Brendan's strategy was to just punch the meat off of anything in front of him, but the more battles he thinks about, the more Lee realizes just how far from the truth that is.

Brendan plays his pokemon's strengths like a master. Marshtomp always keeps a measured pace, his stamina seemingly endless with how he takes his time, giving Brendan all the time in the world to come up with a plan. Each blow is calculated, with Marshtomp taking hits so long as he can retaliate with greater force, and when physical force fails, he backs off to attack from range.

Shroomish meanwhile almost never fights head on at Brendan's order, always patiently waiting for his Poison Powder and Leech Seeds to sap his opponent dry. All his real attacks are to simply make the opposing pokemon back off or to herd them into a more advantageous position.

' _Brendan battles like he's playing chess.'_

Lee takes his phone off the nightstand and opens his browser. A few taps of his fingers later, and he's signed into BattleNet, looking up Brendan's battles.

The battle with Roxanne was rough, but Brendan showed his tactical prowess there in a subtle way, finishing with a genius non-verbal Bide. The bout with Brawly truly shined, as Brendan kept control of the battle from start to finish. Brawly made a mistake using his inexperienced Mienfoo, and by the time Hitmonchan took to the field, the Gym Leader played into Brendan's hands.

' _I never realized that there was such a level of depth to how they battle.'_ Lee realizes. Then a more sobering thought hits him. _'What else have I missed? Maybe I should take Brendan out to eat or something as a late congratulations. What does he like again?'_

Another unpleasant realization is thrust upon him then. He doesn't know what Brendan's favorite food is. Lee bites his lip in concentration. He doesn't know what the younger trainer enjoys eating, or his favorite color, or even his birthday... And the same can be said for his knowledge on Zinnia. The only personal things he knows about her is her love of Dragon types and first choice of drinks.

And the last one is because she explicitly said it, not because he noticed.

' _...Oh my God, am I blind or something? How do I not know these things? They're my friends. I should know all of this.'_ Lee shakes the distressing thought away and focuses back on his earlier problem of a battle style, and what exactly Zinnia meant by it.

' _Is this what I'm lacking?'_ Lee wonders, running his thumb over the cool glass of the cell phone in his hand. _'Would I do better if I had my own way of battling? Like a set of operating procedures?'_

Not trusting his bruised ego to present his memories fairly, Lee gulps and types his own name into BattleNet's search bar, finding videos of both the Dewford Gym battle and the beach tournament.

As he watches the videos play out on his phone, Lee feels his heart sink as he picks out countless opportunities he wasted, points where he froze, so many mistakes where he just seems to give a random order. Firespin in the first round of Dewford's tournament was utter overkill, and the last match with Andre's Absol was won because Treecko took charge when Lee himself choked. His way of battling is purely reactive.

' _Would I freeze up less if I had a style or procedure?'_ He silently asks himself again.

He sets the phone on the bed, mind whirling as he rises and gets dressed for the day. Looking at the messy state of the other bed, he concludes that Brendan must have crept in during the night, slept, then left again all before he woke up.

The last thing Lee dons is his pokeball belt, holding Grovyle, Corvisquire... and Vulpix, all of whom elected to sleep in their balls. Grovyle and Corvisquire were obvious considering their injuries, and Vulpix...

Lee gives the thin psychic thread leading to Vulpix's ball a tug with his mind, just to confirm she's there. A second later, the thread is tugged on the other end, drawing a small smile from him.

_Knock knock knock!_

"Eh? The maid or something?" The zoologist wonders aloud as he turns to the locked hotel door. He walks over and cracks open the door, peering through to see who knocked.

On the other side of the threshold, a disheveled Zinnia stands, nervously wringing a handful of her cloak and looking down at her feet.

Schooling his face into one of careful neutrality, Lee-

"I'm sorry!" Zinnia suddenly blurts, her eyes darting up to meet his. "Can I come in and talk to you?"

Taken aback, Lee absently opens the door the rest of the way and lets the woman in. She slowly steps past him before seating herself heavily on the edge of Lee's bed.

Lee, meanwhile, closes the door and turns to lean against it with his arms crossed, waiting.

For almost a solid minute, neither of them say anything. Lee waits, unsure what to expect while Zinnia balls her hands up in her lap, refusing to look at him.

Finally, she sighs and looks up, startling the former zookeeper with how _remorseful_ she looks. "Lee, I uh..." She trails off and looks away once more, uncharacteristically quiet. "I want to apologize for yesterday. I'm not sorry for saying what I did, but I am sorry for _how_ I said it, and I'm sorry for not saying something sooner. I started traveling with you and Brendan just to see what makes you tick, but..." Zinnia looks up, her shoulders slumped and ruby eyes forlorn. "You've been a nice friend to me even if you are kinda distant. You remind me so much of Aster, and after yesterday, a bit of that image kinda shattered and it made me angry like I lost her again."

She pauses to take a deep breath and seemingly gather her thoughts. "I shouldn't have blown up like that. You're not Aster, and I shouldn't take my issues out on you because you remind me of her. She had no problem sharing whatever was on her mind, and I guess it just frustrated me that you aren't the same."

It's there Lee realizes just _why_ he never seemed to bother learning about Brendan or Zinnia, or why the revelation of their unique manners in pokemon battles surprised him.

_Zinnia is more than just 'Zinnia the Lorekeeper' with some flavor text in her background. That first night in Dewford wasn't a lore dump. She can hurt just like you. She is_ _**real** _ _just like you._

_You aren't the protagonist of some game. This is your_ _**life** _ _now._

The logical part of his brain already knows this, but the sudden acceptance makes Lee's stomach flip and his head light.

Zinnia's head drops into her hands and she runs a hand through her hair. "It's not fair to you, Lee, and I'm sorry. I... still want to be your friend and travel with you, if you'll let me," she says, looking up at him hopefully.

For a moment, Lee sits and debates with himself. Is it worth it to forgive her? The apologies seem genuine, and the longer he waits, the more she fidgets and the more the hope in her eyes begins to fade. Still, she called him mediocre when his win rate is something to behold and worse yet, made Vulpix doubt her relationship with him.

What he and Vulpix have is special. Maybe even unique. Zinnia has no place sticking her nose into it.

...Then he remembers the dragon tamer's words in full, proclaiming that his wins are because of his pokemon's health, not his own ability, and how she never said to totally stop speaking with Vulpix, just to make decisions on his own.

' _Have I been getting full of myself without noticing?'_

All the arguments Lee's still smarting pride forced into his mouth, primed and ready to tear into Zinnia like razors, crumble and vanish. The anger boiling in his chest cools, leaving him strangely empty. He sighs and rubs the back of his head. "It's... okay, Zinnia," even with his ire extinguished, the words still sting his mouth just a bit. "I don't appreciate how harsh your dressing down was, but I think it opened my eyes a little bit. It would be dumb to throw away our friendship, no matter how flimsy it is, over one fight."

She blinks in surprise and her mouth drops open before she closes her jaws with a quiet _click._ Then she smiles so brightly that it practically lights up the room. She stands and in one deft movement, pulls Lee into a tight hug.

The sudden hug makes Lee stiffen, but Zinnia doesn't seem to notice as she pulls away, smile still in place. "Thanks, Dolittle. I'm not good with all this emotional stuff as you probably know by now."

' _Dolittle?'_ Is Lee's bemused thought. _'Is Dr. Dolittle even a story here?'_

"And it's just Zinnia saying this, not Lorekeeper Zinnia," She continues, looking away as her smile wanes into something a bit more wistful. "If you ever want to talk about anything to someone who isn't a pokemon, I can listen if nothing else. Only when you're ready, though!" Her soft voice rises into a demand at the end, complete with a thin finger pointed at his face.

Lee's chest grows warm, and at the same time, he can't stop the amused half-laugh that escapes through his nose. "Yeah, sure thing. I don't know when I'll be ready to talk, but when I am, I'll let you know."

"Of course!" She exclaims with a grin. "Here, I got this for you, too."

Lee raises an eyebrow when the draconid tribeswoman reaches back into the Silph pouch at the small of her back and withdraws a colorful blue and red ticket. "Oh?"

"This little baby is a ticket to the Battle Tent here in Slateport!" Zinnia says, waving the bit of paper before Lee's eyes. "They've got big prizes for trainers who do well in their battles, and the gimmick in Slateport's Battle Tent is rental pokemon. It'll be good practice to battle with pokemon who aren't naturals in the field like your own."

"Battle Tent, huh?" Lee asks as he takes the offered ticket and looks it over, finding the address, a little serial number, and effective date on its redemption to be from now until next week. _'I kind of forgot about these.'_

"Mmhm," Zinnia nods. "Kind of like a mini Battle Frontier with less snobs." She looks around, her smile falling somewhat. "Say, uh, where is your Vulpix?" She asks, looking somewhat nervous again. "I feel like I should apologize to her, too."

Lee's gaze drops down to the pokeballs at his waist, and slowly, he pulls Vulpix's ball free and rolls it between his fingers. "I haven't spoken to her since last night, so I'm not sure what sort of mood she's in."

The dragon tamer grimaces. "Oh."

Regardless, Lee hits the button on the pokeball, making it grow to full size with a low whine before it bursts open.

Instantly, he can feel Vulpix's mind reach out to his before she's even fully materialized, and he gladly embraces the little probe of thought. She hesitates, but then gives in and floods his psyche with rolling waves of love, instantly washing away his lingering worry.

When she fully takes form upon the bed, Vulpix blinks the stars from her eyes before turning her chilled gaze to Zinnia.

To the dragon tamer's credit, she doesn't falter at Vulpix's nearly palpable displeasure. "Hey Vulpix." Zinnia begins awkwardly. "I dunno if you bothered to listen to Lee and I talk, but I wanted to say I'm sorry to you. I shouldn't have gotten snappy with you when you're probably doing the things you do for Lee's sake, right?"

Although Lee can feel a trickle of surprise from her, the vixen's face remains impassive as she gives Zinnia a single clipped nod.

"I still stand by what I said," Zinnia frowns. "I don't think you should be making decisions for Lee when he should be the one to do it, but I could have been nicer about it, so... I'm sorry," she says, swallowing her pride and inclining her head.

Vulpix's frigid anger lessens considerably, but she still turns her nose up at Zinnia in dismissal.

"Well, I don't think she forgives you, not yet, but she's not as upset anymore," Lee supplies, looking between his two friends.

Zinnia's face scrunches up in annoyance, but rather than make a fuss, she just takes a deep breath. "I can live with that for now..." She mutters. "Anyway, enough of this gloomy shit. Shrimpy said he was going to run an errand his dad asked of him, so let's go check out the huge market in the west side of town. It's supposedly got stuff that can't be found anywhere else, and we might find supplies that could be useful in getting your style going. C'mon!"

Before Lee can get a word in, Zinnia seizes his hand with her own and pulls him along with surprising strength, barely giving him enough time to wrap his free hand around one of the straps of his backpack and drag it along.

Vulpix just shakes her head and leaps to Lee's shoulder before either trainer can get too far.

* * *

Outside the hotel, Zinnia releases her ironclad grip on Lee's hand, making him flex his slightly numb fingers until he can feel them again. "No need to break my hand. It's not like I was going anywhere," he says dryly.

Zinnia puts her hands on her hips and raises an eyebrow, the corners of her mouth perking up. "It's hard to tell with you, Dolittle," she says, starting a brisk walk down the sidewalk. Lee follows just beside her as she continues. "You've got three expressions. 'Tiny smile', 'surprised', and 'blank'. It's not often I see something else on that mug of yours."

"Really?" Lee muses aloud. "It might be because anything intensive pulls at these," he says, tapping his index and middle fingers on the left side of his face. "It's probably a subconscious thing now."

Zinnia winces. "Ah... Wow, I really need to stop putting my foot in my mouth..." She mutters.

"It's fine," Lee reassures as they come to a stop at a crosswalk with a few other people waiting to cross. He glances up and down the street, noting the amount of cars on the road and how their numbers are dwarfed by scooters, motorcycles, large delivery vans, and even a few pokemon mounts in traffic. Further down the road, Lee spies a woman astride a Sawsbuck laden with saddlebags, who is stuck trotting behind a slow, miniature car. The deer pokemon snorts and leaps right over the small, slow car with effortless grace. His hooves land on the asphalt with a staccato of _cli-cli-clip_ , then Sawsbuck and his passenger catch up to the rest of traffic easily.

Lee almost doesn't notice the crosswalk signal change until Zinnia is already a few steps ahead of him in the street, forcing him to pick up the pace.

"So what exactly is in the Slateport market?" Lee asks as they walk away from the hotel and resort part of town into Slateport's downtown, where the city is already bustling. He recalls the market in the games sold some unique items, but in a real pokemon world? It could be anything. "Something special I'm assuming."

"More like _everything_ special," Zinnia grins with a bounce in her step. "A big port town like this? It's got a huge market square with everything you could ever imagine. Exotic food, clothes, electronics, jewelry, you name it, and that's just for normal people. You better believe they've got tons for trainers and pokemon too. Maybe you'll even find an interesting pokemon to buy."

The same thought runs through both Lee and Vulpix's heads independently, and Lee feels his lips pull downward into a frown. "Please tell me there are licencing and proper care requirements in place for pokemon merchants..."

"Duh. The city probably wouldn't let them do business otherwise," Zinnia rolls her eyes. "You worry too much, you know that? Just live in the moment sometime!"

"I've got you and Brendan to do that for me," The zoologist smiles, making an effort to make it a little more expressive. The end result is more of a smirk when the left side of his face doesn't quite lift as much as the right. "If I don't worry, who will?"

She smiles again and shakes her head. The expression is rather pretty, now that he looks at her not as Zinnia the 2D party member, but Zinnia, his friend.

' _Kinda moronic of me to accept pokemon as more real than other people, or did you help me get over that so quickly that I didn't notice?'_ Lee silently asks Vulpix, who makes her curious not-purr in a noncommittal reply. _'Eh. We'll make things work either way.'_

"You know, now that I know it's telepathy for sure, it's real interesting to see it work, even if I can't tell what's being said." Zinnia suddenly says, pulling Lee and Vulpix from their silent conversation. Both trainer and pokemon look over at the dragon tamer. "What's it like? Er, if you feel like saying," she hastily amends.

Lee carefully thinks over the answer for a moment, remembering Professor Birch's warning. _'I should give her_ _ **something**_ _, though.'_

He looks around at the other people on the street, and when satisfied that all of them are too absorbed in their own business, he looks back to an openly curious Zinnia. "Well, it's kind of hard to describe," Lee begins, raising a finger and tapping his temple. "There's no words, just urges, emotions, and sensations. It took a week of constant back-and-forth before Vulpix and I got the hang of understanding each other. Even now, though, not everything is one hundred percent clear. Humans and pokemon have a radically different mental makeup and I have to put myself in Vulpix's shoes for some things to make sense."

Zinnia blinks. "Put yourself in her shoes, huh? How does that work?"

"Again, that's rather hard to put into words," Lee thinks for a moment as they walk. "I just have to stop thinking like a human, and start thinking like a pokemon. Things they see as common and logical are alien to you and I, and you really have to stretch your definition of 'logic' to come to the same conclusions that a pokemon might. You have to take into account how they see the world with their stronger senses, the tools at their disposal to deal with the problems the world throws them, how those senses and tools would be applied to different stimuli, and the knowledge and personality held by the individual pokemon." He leaves out how the intelligence of pokemon makes this much easier than with common animals.

Seeing Zinnia paying rapt attention, Lee continues. "Even then, I'm oversimplifying this by quite a bit. This is all useful not in just telepathy, but in understanding pokemon in general," he punctuates the statement by reaching a hand up and stoking Vulpix's chin, who leans into the hand with a small smile. "Knowing the hows and why of their behaviour, imagining yourself in their place, and emulating said behaviour to better connect with them and aid with communication brings you closer together. With this understanding, you can tailor-fit your care for them as well," he smiles along with Vulpix, letting his fingers trail up to her heart-marked ear.

Zinnia's hand rises to rub her chin as she looks down at the sidewalk. The two continue the walk in an easy silence as Zinnia visibly ponders. As they go, the sidewalk comes more and more packed with people as they approach a street blocked off with bright traffic cones. By the time they reach the blocked street, it's almost shoulder-to-shoulder.

Upon turning the corner, they come face-to-face with something right out of a storybook.

Stands, shops, people, and most importantly pokemon dominate the wide street with a dizzying amount of color and noise. Stands with boisterous, hollering merchants line the street and money changes hands faster than anyone can hope to keep track of. Above, bird pokemon fly to and fro, talons clutching wrapped packages coming in and out of the market. Many of the birds are Delibirds or large fliers like Pidgeots hauling whole pallets with ease. Agile pokemon like a bounding Breloom cut through the crowd without so much as a stumble, carrying their own loads to who-knows-where.

All the stands and stores are filled with everything Zinnia said and more. Jewels, textiles, food, berries, antiques, knick-knacks and other odds and ends with no name. One stand selling clothes has a Gardevoir in a flamboyant orange kimono dancing with supernatural grace to pull in a mass of captivated customers, while another just a few spaces away has a grinning, _shiny_ Sableye coated in enough jewelry for a king holding a sign saying _Olaf's Fine Jewelry._

One smaller stall in particular catches Lee's eye, where a young woman with her hair tied back is selling customized pokemon grooming kits all nicely boxed up and ready to go. The young woman has to shout over the flimsy stall next to hers, where an overweight man bellows mightily about his stacks of 'authentic' TMs, all of which have ridiculous names that he shouts without shame. The street opens up into a large plaza absolutely stuffed with people and pokemon further down, where a great Wailord balloon hovers high above, moored to the ground by long cables.

Lee can't help but blink as he takes it all in.

"Hehehehe!" Zinnia's eyes light up and a smile instantly finds its way to her face. "It's even bigger than I heard! C'mon!"

She slips into the crowd easily, and Lee has to swiftly follow, lest he lose sight of the dragon tamer.

Lee and Zinnia flit between stalls rapidly, guided only by Zinnia's whim. When the tanned woman finally seems preoccupied with some rapid-fire haggling with a vendor over a new set of boots, Lee breaks away to visit the stand selling the grooming kits.

As he walks closer, the young woman smiles brightly and beckons him closer. "Welcome! Looking for something to help you pamper your cutie there?" She asks, her loud voice cutting through the din of the market easily.

Lee smiles back, again making an effort to make it large. Again, the right side of his face lifts more, making the smile into more of a smirk. "That I am," he replies, reaching up to stroke a content Vulpix several times. "You wouldn't happen to have kits for reptiles and avians too, would you?"

"Do I?! Of course I've got what you need! Any types in particular?" She asks, her hands already pulling aside a little box labeled "Mammal - Fire".

"Grass for the reptile and Steel for the avian," Lee says. Then a thought strikes him. "Say, in the reptile and avian kits, what's the type-specific stuff you put in there?"

"The reptile kit has a natural scale-lotion that eases shedding and boosts photo receptivity in chlorophyll-rich skin, and the bird kit contains a special feather oil blend that doubles as armor polish along with a rust prevention compound," she rattles off from memory, hands flying to assemble a pair of flattened cardboard boxes that she pulls from behind the stall. "All made by Carla Cosmetics here in Slateport! We ship anywhere in Hoenn for a flat rate if you ever need more!" She swiftly fills each box with bottles, brushes, nail trimmers, and a single instruction sheet from somewhere hidden from Lee's view behind the stall then seals the boxes with colorful stickers saying "Reptile - Grass" and "Bird - Steel". She stacks them on the Mammal box and gives Lee a dazzling smile. "Your total comes to 220 credits, honey."

' _Yeesh, that seems a little steep for just some grooming supplies,'_ Lee frowns, but nonetheless, he pulls his wallet from pocket and hands over his debit card to the eager woman, who scans it with a tablet computer she pulls from under the stand's counter. _'I'll have to learn how to make this stuff myself.'_

"Thank you! Stop by again any time!" The grinning vendor hands his card back and pushes the boxes his way.

Lee nods, slipping his card back into his pocket and unshouldering his backpack to drop the boxes into the nearly bottomless bag.

"A pro trainer, eh? Take a look here, sir! I've got what you need to take your battling to the next level!"

Lee's eyes are drawn to the shabby stand next to the one he just bought from, where the overweight, middle-aged man he spied earlier stands with a multitude of CD racks filled with TMs. The man grins widely and clasps his hands together before rubbing them in a decidedly greedy manner. "Come on, friend! A new move to unleash in a battle or to dazzle in a contest will help anyone, but I think a pro like you can truly use these techniques to their maximum!"

With an amused smile, Lee can't help but step closer, sharing a short look with the vixen on his shoulder as he does so. "A new move or two sounds nice. What have you got?"

The vendor grins even wider, showing off a shiny false-tooth. He then plucks a red TM in a simple plastic CD case and holds it up gingerly, as if it's made of glass. "This right here my friend, is a TM for Flamethrower!" He exclaims with building excitement. "This TM was copied from the mightiest Charizard of the Charicific Valley, a fine pokemon belonging to Ash Ketchum, the powerful protege of the legendary Samuel Oak! With this, your Vulpix will be able to melt rock and boil lakes! It's all yours for a measly 3,000 credits!"

Lee hums and taps his foot, making a show of thinking it over. He can see that the red film-like sticker on the 'TM' has a bubble in it from being applied incorrectly, so when Vulpix noses his cheek and feeds him a devious idea, Lee has to suppress a smile. "Do you have anything stronger?"

"Stronger?" The portly merchant asks in confusion, then he recovers after nary a second. "Stronger! Yes my good man, yes! Of course, you need something better! Only the finest for experts of your caliber!" He carelessly replaces the red TM and pulls another one, this one also red, from a different rack. "Now _this_ is something to behold!" He begins. "Fire Blast! The most powerful Fire attack there is! This one was copied from the Infernape of Flint, a member of the Sinnoh Elite Four! One attack from that Infernape can turn a city block into a pit of lava! That power can be yours for just 7000 credits!"

' _So he's not heard of Blast Burn then, or he's trying real hard to dupe us...'_ Lee snorts. "I need something even better. Don't hold back," he forces down a giggle.

The merchant nods slowly, putting the dubious TM back. "I see. You are well learned, then. Let me show you my very best," the man mutters, theatrically pulling a briefcase from under his stand's counter and slowly opening in. He turns the case around, showing a single gold-foil wrapped TM inside resting on a pillow of foam.

"This, my friend, is the Hyper Beam of Lance Blackthorn's Dragonite," The rotund man says with the utmost seriousness. "It will teach your pokemon a terrible power, the power to crumble mountains and reshape the landscape. It's yours... for 20,000 credits."

' _Are TMs actually copied from pokemon?'_ Lee idly wonders. _'What kind of machine does that? That'll be something to research.'_ Outwardly, he holds his chin and taps his finger in a thinking pose, staring down at the TM as the merchant sweats. "Nah," Lee shrugs. "Thanks for showing me, though."

The man blinks, and the woman running the pokemon grooming stall next to him openly laughs at his expression.

Before the bogus merchant can recover and complain about his time being wasted, a tanned arm wraps around Lee's and pulls him away.

Lee stumbles, nearly throwing Vulpix off, but catches himself before his pokemon can take a spill. He extracts his arm from Zinnia's and levels her with a dry look. "Can you not? I like my arm not dislocated, thanks."

She scoffs. "If a little jolt like that pulled our arm out of its socket, then I'd tell you to find another career. Now c'mon! There is way more in the plaza that we have to see!"

Lee rolls his eyes and in the back of his mind, he can feel Vulpix's lingering hostility for Zinnia flare-up before he silently shushes her. They weave through the throngs of people and out into the main plaza of the Slateport market, where the mass of people have room to thin out.

The plaza of the marketplace is enormous, dwarfing the street entrance easily. Countless stands, stalls, and even a number of parked trucks and vans acting as storefronts form lines up and down the several-block space. The range of people and pokemon is even greater than the entrance.

Zinnia, Vulpix, and Lee walk down one of the first rows of vendors, taking in all the sights and shops.

One of them with a long line is a Smeargle drawing expert caricatures of customers with just his tail and simple canvases. He takes payments on a little phone-like scanner and operates seemingly without a trainer under his simple tent.

Another is a man with a Natu on his shoulder touting the power of his special pokemon supplements into a microphone, and everyone lets out gasps when behind him on a small stage, a smiling Aipom effortlessly lifts a full anvil with just his tail and a happy chitter. Considering the psychic bird on the presenter's shoulder is glowing a faint blue, the ruse is obvious to anyone watching closely.

Just across from the scam artist, a woman with a thick set of glasses dressed in overalls works on something on a bench in the back of her stall, the drill in her hand whining as she bores into something. Her silently hovering Magneton minds customers perusing the various devices and bits of junk on display.

"Where to even begin...?" Lee wonders aloud.

* * *

Over the course of the next two hours, the group wanders around the huge market. Lee stops at a fruit stand selling the largest berries he's ever seen, and promptly blows 300 credits on berries alone. One vendor dressed like a stereotypical beatnik is selling evolution stones from the back of a colorful mini-bus, but when Lee sees the multi-thousand credit price tags on the subpar stones, he blanches and promptly turns around. Zinnia, meanwhile, aggressively haggles with all of the shopkeepers they visit, yet never buys a thing. She nearly gets into a shouting match with a burly leatherworker over a fine pokeball belt that she only has a passing interest in. Lee has to physically pull her away before it comes to blows and lead her away.

"Shitty old man," Zinnia grumbles, arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "100 credits for a single belt? That's robbery!"

Lee sighs and shakes his head. "Why even bother when you've already got a working belt?" He asks, looking at the red rope around her waist that holds her pokeballs. "Just seems silly to me."

' _St**i*, y*u ***n,'_ Vulpix huffs from her perch, but a scratch on the chin from Lee soothes her ire.

"Can you blame a girl for being thrifty, Dolittle?" Zinnia uncrosses her arms as she weaves around a young family passing by. "I don't like asking the tribe for money, so I've got to make whatever I earn myself last. If I can get a deal though..."

She trails off and stops when they pass a simple canvas tent, where an old, weathered woman clad in a baggy robe sits cross-legged behind a tarp filled with different stones, seemingly asleep.

Zinnia walks over to the tarp with all the stones, crouching down to better look at them.

Lee follows, curiosity piqued. He stops next to the dragon tamer, who is intently scanning all the rocks.

' _None of these look special or anything, though I'm no geologist,'_ the scarred man muses, letting his eyes roam over the collection of rocks. Most of them are common earthy brown-gray colors with lumps and dirt, looking like any old stone that anyone could find outside. None of them seem to be any special mineral or gem.

"Sharp eye."

Lee starts, jostling Vulpix when the elderly shopkeeper suddenly speaks.

Zinnia looks up, grinning as she meets the now open eyes of the older woman. "I wouldn't be a good dragon tamer if I missed the dragons who came before."

' _Dragons who came before?'_

The old woman inclines her head, dropping a few strands of wispy white hair into her face. "Dragon tamer, hmm? Indeed. Do you know which one you want?"

Zinnia's smile becomes a touch mocking. "Really? Do you need to ask that?"

"I suppose not, but begrudge not an elder with a faltering mind," the shopkeeper clicks her tongue. "You too shall face the same problem one day."

Zinnia says nothing.

The old woman picks up one of the stones, one a bit larger than her hand with an oblong protrusion, and after producing a square of white cloth from her pocket, she wraps the stone up into a neat bundle with deftness unfitting of her age. After setting the bundle down, she reaches into another baggy pocket and produces a large, ancient-looking card scanner that could easily be mistaken for a graphing calculator. "That will be 2000 credits, my dear."

Without even trying to argue, Zinnia fishes her wallet from her back pocket and swipes it through the presented scanner, her grin only growing.

The elderly woman watches the device for a moment, then nods and drops the wrapped-up rock into Zinnia's waiting hand. "Good luck, my dear."

Practically shaking in excitement, the dragon tamer stuffs the bundle safely in her silph pouch and stands back up. "Thanks!"

As she and a bewildered Lee walk away, Lee can't help but ask; "What was that all about?"

Megawatt grin still in place, Zinnia beckons him closer with a finger, then stands on her toes to whisper in his ear. "That was a Tyrunt fossil I just scored."

"What?" Is Lee's instinctual response, and the sudden mental jolt he feels from Vulpix tells him the vixen is just as surprised. He blinks and looks back at the old woman, who looks as if she's nodded off again. No one pays her little store any mind. "She's selling fossils?" He asks, keeping his voice low enough to not carry in the noise of the busy market.

"Yep!" Zinnia replies with a giddy giggle. "I would have said something, but I have no idea what the other ones were, and I don't think you'd want to gamble on one, right?"

"Well, no..." Lee mutters. There aren't any fossil pokemon on his wanted list anyway. "Are you planning on reviving it?"

"Well informed, as usual, Dolittle," his tanned friend laughs. "Yeah, I am. I might have to call in some favors and it might take a while, but I think I can get the little guy revived. Tyrantrum, here I come!" She giggles again and holds her cheeks with a beaming grin, no doubt caught up in the destructive fantasy of having her own T-Rex.

Lee shakes his head and smiles a bit himself. "Give me more to worry about, why don't you?"

"Gladly~!" She replies.

* * *

The pair walk further into the heart of Slateport's biggest attraction, and as they do, the shops grow more and more focused on pokemon rather than trainers. Eventually, they stumble right into the corner where all the breeders have set up.

Stalls and stands are sparse, as the breeder corner is dominated by pens containing all sorts of pokemon awaiting adoption. Many of them are pokemon native to Hoenn, with the exotic pokemon in larger, more expensive set-ups complete with artificial terrains and full HVAC systems. Many of them have vehicles parked nearby, instantly giving away how lucrative pokemon breeding can be, or maybe the vehicles are an unfortunate cost of business? The few stands that are set up between the pokemon enclosures are quite...

Lee glances at a little shop between two pens. The sign says 'Dexter's Canid Specialties.', and one of the most eye-catching things is a rack of white vials in a glass-doored refrigerator behind the counter. The shopkeeper's large Mightyena, who sits nearby, looks entirely too pleased when a middle-aged well-to-do woman with a finely groomed Furfrou at her side buys one of the dubious vials.

...Quite interesting?

' _Yeah, staying away from that one. I had enough of that as an intern...'_

Vulpix growls and wrinkles her snout, constricting her end of the psychic pathway to halt the images leaking over to her.

As they walk deeper into the little corner of the market, Zinnia lightly jabs Lee's side with her elbow and points a finger to a large pen with an old truck parked beside it. "Check it out!"

Lee follows her finger and feels his eyes widen.

Inside the pen are a number of different pokemon, all mammals. He spies a small wisp of a Shinx, several Poochyenas that lay together in a pack, a pair of playing Growlithes, a panting Rockruff that the pen owner is showing to a young blonde girl, a fox-like pokemon from Galar, the name of whom he forgets, and most importantly, two young, healthy-looking Eevees.

A grin finds its way to Lee's face. "Hot damn. Let's go take a look," he says, already in motion.

By the time they get to the gate of the small pen, the breeder running it is showing the young girl who was interested in the Rockruff out. The man smiles and waves as they approach.

The breeder is rather normal in appearance, being a tanned, brown-haired man who looks somewhere between twenty-five and thirty years old. His boots, denim overalls, and flannel shirt all sport bits of dirt and scuffs, and the front pocket of his overalls hold several packets of paper, likely transfer or adoption forms. "Hey there!" He greets with a raised hand. "Name's Leo. Something I can help you all with?" He asks with a friendly smile.

"Sure can," Lee nods his head to the pen. "I couldn't help but notice you have a fine pair of Eevees, a pokemon I've been wanting. Mind if I ask how much you're wanting out of them?"

The pair of pokemon in question sit by the fence of the enclosure, both already wearing resigned, knowing expressions with their ears low.

The breeder winces. "Ah, both are 100,000 credits each, friend."

Lee rocks back at the price while Zinnia's jaw drops. "What?!" The latter squawks. "You could get a _house_ in some places for that money!" She almost yells.

A few of the other breeders set up around Leo don't pay the outburst any mind, Vulpix notes, then sends to Lee. _'Must be a regular occurrence...'_ He thinks, looking around for himself.

"Both siblings are pure stock sired and born from a pair of Eevee parents without a hint of Ditto in their lineage," Leo explains with his hands raised disarmingly. "Raised on natural diets on top of the prelim training they got when they were young. I was told by the appraiser when I got them that a _hundred-and-twenty grand_ was the _lowest_ I should price them. I want them to go to a loving home, but I can't just throw out an opportunity like this for my business and give them away."

"How... did they come into your possession if you don't mind me prying?" Lee asks, still taken aback by the sticker shock. He crosses his arms and frowns. _'Holy hell. I thought fifty was a lot. Just one of them is twice that.'_

"Well, I'm not in the business of breeding Eevees," the breeder begins, looking back at the pokemon in question. "These two came to me when a family friend who is getting on in his years just started getting too old to breed pokemon any longer. A real pro he was, and his ranch churned out high-quality pokemon all the time. He wanted me to have a breeding pair, but I think he forgot in his old age that siblings usually aren't keen on each other like that, especially when both are male."

"That makes sense..." Lee sighs, letting his arms fall to his sides. "Still, that's a lot of money for one pokemon."

Leo mirrors Lee's frown. "Well, I could see if any banks 'round here are willing to offer a loan, but..."

"No, that's okay," Lee shakes his head. "Knowing my luck, they'd try to hit me with something insane like thirty APR for ten years."

' _If there is one positive about Earth being a scorched hellhole, it's that all my student debt vanished with it,'_ he morbidly jokes to himself.

"Murrrew?"

The mewl pulls Lee away from his thoughts. Looking down at the fence of Leo's enclosure, a pair of bright yellow eyes stares back up at him with unbridled curiosity.

"It is getting to be about your dinner time, eh, Shinx?" Leo looks down at the tiny kitten with a smile. He walks a short way to the old pick-up truck, and out of the bed, he withdraws a simple backpack, and after unzipping it, pulls a capped hand-feeding bottle.

The little Shinx's eyes quite literally light up, shining a brilliant gold. The Electric feline resists none when Leo reaches over the fence with one arm and picks...

' _Her.'_ Vulpix silently supplies.

...her up to cradle her to his chest.

With a thumb, the breeder pops the cap off the bottle, letting the little kitten eagerly latch on to the rubber nipple and begin drinking. Shinx settles and contently closes her eyes as she eats. She's almost like a...

' _Lion cub...'_ Lee realizes, captivated. Without even intending to, his mouth begins to move. "What's the story with this one?"

"Oh, Shinx?" Leo asks, looking away from the kitten to meet Lee's stare. "Poor girl was a live birth, but her mother was sickly and Shinx was born several weeks premature. Her mother..." The older man trails off uncomfortably, telling Lee, Zinnia, and Vulpix everything. "Shinx needs a good home, but she'll need a dedicated trainer if she's ever going to grow up healthy and strong. I've had to turn away a few trainers wanting her because I didn't think they would give her the attention she needs."

' _She's just like Sefu...'_ Lee's throat tightens as he remembers the cub he raised by hand. His right hand rubs his left wrist, right where the little lioness would accidentally knead with her claws whenever he fed her.

After the survival of her mother's attempted infanticide, Sefu lost so much weight, looking as small as the Shinx before him. He would encourage the lion cub to eat whenever she could without overfeeding her, just so she would _stop being so fragile that he feared she would break when he let her go._

A normal Shinx is usually a few ounces shy of twenty pounds. This poor girl looks like she barely breaks _ten_ , and she looks even smaller being held in a man's arm.

Lee's mouth moves again before he can stop it. "How much are you asking for her?"

He can feel Zinnia's curious look on the side of his head and Vulpix silently asking if he's sure, but the zoologist can't bring himself to care.

Leo's eyes narrow. "550 credits."

"Sold. Where do I-"

"Hold on!" The breeder stops Lee short. His raised voice makes Shinx open her eyes and watch the proceedings with the naked curiosity only a cub could have. "I just told you that this gal needs a lot of TLC, and just looking at you, your friend, and your Vulpix, I can tell you're a battling, traveling sort of guy. Do you really think you can care for a baby like Shinx on the road?" He asks with a raised eyebrow. "You know she won't be battle-ready for weeks, maybe months, right?"

Lee scowls and crosses his arms. "If she's _never_ battle-ready that won't bother me."

"Uh-huh. Okay then. Why do you want her?" The breeder shoots back.

"She..." Lee hesitates, acutely aware of Zinnia watching the going-ons closely. With a sigh, the scarred man makes up his mind and spills some of the truth. "She wouldn't be the first cub I've raised by hand. My other cub, she was ripped from me by circumstance, but I'm not exaggerating when I say I raised her from birth. Her mother rejected her for a reason that still escapes me, but I made damn sure she was happy and healthy. I see the same thing here with Shinx. You've got other pokemon to raise and can't give her as much attention as you'd like if Shinx is up for adoption, right?"

Leo deflates somewhat, his hostility dying as he searches Lee's face for any trace of deception. "That I do."

"This is the exact same situation. Shinx needs someone to love her and ensure she's healthy, yes?" Lee nods. "I want to be that someone. I want her to grow up strong. I make my own pokemon food, I monitor my team's health myself, I give them customized regimens, and if it helps my argument any, I am a Lab Trainer under Professor Birch." Idly, Lee feels some distaste waving around his title, but the thought of leaving without tiny Shinx makes his chest tight.

He _can_ do it, damnit.

The breeder is silent for a moment, his eyes flicking between the Shinx in his arms and Lee. "I'm not a shrink or anything, but isn't trying to fill a hole inside you like this unhealthy?"

Vulpix openly growls at the slight, but Lee calmly shushes her with a finger held to her muzzle. "It's not about me, it's about her."

Leo looks down at Shinx again and sighs. For a moment, no one speaks. Then; "Prove it. Here," he says, gently passing Shinx into Lee's arms.

"Merrow?" Shinx mewls piteously when she's moved from one set of arms into one without her bottle, but Lee is quick to take the half-full bottle from Leo and present it to Shinx again. He lays the kitten along his right arm and holds the bottle close with his left, letting the blue and black feline latch on and begin suckling again, her fussing instantly ceasing. Her left paw reaches up absently, her claws finding purchase on the wrist holding the bottle for her

' _She really is just like Sefu after all,'_ Lee silently smiles as Vulpix watches from her spot on his shoulder. With his right hand under Shinx's neck, Lee tenderly massages her neck with his index finger and thumb, helping the premature cub's weak throat muscles swallow.

Sefu needed the same help until she recovered.

The dull roar of the market seems to fade to nothing as Lee focuses intently on Shinx's pace and the gentle rubbing of her throat. After another fourth of the formula in the bottle vanishes into her stomach, Shinx's suckling begins to lose steam and she slowly begins to go limp. Her breathing begins to even out, and from muscle memory, Lee unhurriedly pulls the bottle away, the rubber nipple coming out of her mouth with a quiet _pop._ Before her head can fall, the hand that was massaging her throat reaches and props her up by her chin, then slowly lowers her head down when it's obvious she's gone to sleep.

_*Snap!*_

Lee looks over to Zinnia, who is grinning like a loon with her phone held up, the camera facing him. "Now _that_ was adorable, Dolittle!" She gushes, turning her phone around to show the bewildered Lee.

The photo, one of him feeding Shinx with a tranquil and decidedly emasculating expression, is none-too-flattering.

Lee blushes and turns away. "Fuck off," he mutters before looking at Leo, who watches with a neutral expression. "So?"

The breeder chews on his lip for a moment, then he reaches into the middle pocket on his overalls. "Well, I'll need to see your trainer ID and your credit card after that."

Lee's heart soars.


End file.
